


Three

by Doodsxd



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Billy Hargrove & Eleven | Jane Hopper Friendship, Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, Billy Hargrove Redemption, Canon-Typical Violence, Discussion of Abortion, Do-Over, Domestic Violence, Eleven has a meddling sister, Eleven | Jane Hopper Has Powers, Explicit Sexual Content, Gay Billy Hargrove, Gay Will Byers, M/M, Neil Hargrove's A+ Parenting, Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Racism, Protective Billy Hargrove, Starts at S02, The Upside Down, Time Shenanigans, Time Travel, Will Byers & Billy Hargrove Friendship, mildly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:53:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21895438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doodsxd/pseuds/Doodsxd
Summary: “Yellow sandals covered in sand.” It was all that Billy could see. “She was pretty.” Her laughter twinkled like windchimes, like the sound the sun would make if it made a sound when it was reflected by the water. “She was really pretty. And you…” He was crying. Why was he crying. “You were happy.”Billy stood up, facing the monster. He failed in facing a monster before, and the one person who had given him warmth and love had died because of it. He wasn’t going to let that happen again.So when it advanced against Eleven, Billy stopped it. Bare hands. He felt himself screaming but wasn’t sure of what. In the end, he could only stop it for a few moments before the pain came.She was the last thing he saw before everything went black.___Billy woke up.“You’re late.” Maxine threw his bag on his face, looking grumpy. “Neil’s starting to freak out.”Alternatively: the do-over fic nobody asked me to write, but I wrote anyway. Oops?
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers/Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 29
Kudos: 627





	1. Part I

IN one moment he had been holding her down to the ground. A monster to his side, a monster inside of him, visions of the little girl and of his mother, of the beach, clouding his vision. 

He knew the girl’s name.  _ Eleven.  _ What a strange name for a girl. 

His mother’s laughter twinkled in his ears. She was so beautiful. 

_ Leave me alone.  _

_ Stop it!  _

The breakfast table. The punch to his mother’s face; she fell to the ground. 

_ Mom! _

Those were the memories that made him who he was, he thought to himself. The memories that got him where he was. 

It all led to this. 

_ This is your new sister. _

_ … at least seven feet! _

“Seven… feet.” Eleven gasped under him. 

It was like something snapped in him. Like the string holding him stretched too far and was now pulling him back to his body. Back from the detachment. He wasn’t sure he wanted to go back. 

“You told her… the wave was seven feet.” She said, and yes. He could remember it like it was yesterday. 

Billy stopped. His mom screamed at him in excitement. 

“You ran to her, on the beach.” The girl kept talking. His whole body hurt when he came back, why did she want to make him come back? 

Salt water on his feet, on his face. 

“There were seagulls.” Yes, yes there were. “She wore a hat… with a blue ribbon.” Billy’s lungs came back for air, making him gasp as she continued. “A long dress with a blue and red flower.” 

Billy had been there when she chose it. He thought it looked beautiful on her, so he insisted that she bought it. The salesgirl gave them a discount because he pouted so hard. Told him he was cute. 

“Yellow sandals covered in sand.” It was all that Billy could see. “She was pretty.” Her laughter twinkled like windchimes, like the sound the sun would make if it made a sound when it was reflected by the water. “She was really pretty. And you…” He was crying. Why was he crying. “You were happy.” 

Yes, that was the last time he remembered being happy.

Eleven carefully rose her hand, cupping Billy’s cheek. He shut his eyes, basking on another person’s warmth for the first time since his mother died. 

He felt safe, somehow. That girl, that little girl, understood. She  _ saw _ him. She saw who he was, what blocks composed the building that was Billy Hargrove, and she didn’t run away. Not that she could, but… she seemed to understand. And she did go after him, before. In his mind. He recognized the feeling of her hand, even though it was all blurry and messy in his mind.

Billy stood up, facing the monster. He failed in facing a monster before, and the one person who had given him warmth and love had died because of it. He wasn’t going to let that happen again. 

Billy had been chosen for a reason. He was strong and resilient, the monster knew that. 

So when it advanced against Eleven, Billy stopped it. Bare hands. He felt himself screaming but wasn’t sure of what. In the end, he could only stop it for a few moments before the pain came. 

It hurt, but unlike before, it hurt only for a moment. Just a brief, suspended speck of time floating, until it fell, taking him with it. 

He remembers saying sorry to Max. She was an innocent caught in the crossfire between him and his father. He wished he hadn’t treated the way he had. In a weird way, Billy felt really proud of her. Of how strong she was, because, or despite, of him. 

She was the last thing he saw before everything went black. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

Billy woke up. 

“You’re late.” Maxine threw his bag on his face, looking grumpy. “Neil’s starting to freak out.”

Morning was like any other. He got up, took a shower, brushed his teeth. Susan sneaked him some cookies with a wink and he got into the Camaro, still chewing on one, to drive himself and Max to school. 

Hawkins was a hellhole. 

His speakers were blaring  _ Rock You Like a Hurricane _ when he parked - Billy knew how to make an entrance even at their first day, fuck you very much. Max got out of his car without a word. Billy felt a pang at that, but wasn’t sure why. 

He heard girls saying shit about his ass.  _ That was quick _ , he thought to himself, turning to head to classes. 

He felt… weird. Like the whole world was tinted differently. Like he was wearing polarized lenses, somehow. 

Like he could see clearer. 

He pocketed his cigarettes and didn’t touch any of ‘em the whole day. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

“You’re late again.” He told her, and it felt all wrong. 

“Yeah, I had to get catch-up homework.” Max answered. Billy knew it was a lie. 

He didn’t say anything, though. Just put his smoke out and entered the Camaro to drive the brat home. 

His anger bled out into something strange. Shapeless. Just sticking to the corner of him, waiting for some direction, to become something else. 

It was  _ shit _ . The whole town smelled of  _ shit _ , of blood and dirt and something rotten. Like there was something going bad underground for the miles and miles the town stretched over. 

For a brief moment he smelled sea salt and sand. His mind placed behind his eyes the image of a little girl, brown eyes and brown hair, delicate features. She was crying. He wished she would stop. 

“You’ve been acting weird.” Maxine’s voice shook him out of his stupor. “Driving slow, not giving me shit.” 

Billy hummed. 

“Are you sick or something?” The girl insisted. 

His eyes met hers briefly. “Am I boring you, Maxine?” Turned to the road again, but couldn’t help the amused smile pulling the corners of his lips up. “Worried?” 

“No.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re freaking me out, that’s all.” 

He just hummed again in response. 

After a few moments she seemed to give up on trying to talk to him and turned the volume of the radio up. It was Wango Tango by Ted Nugent. A commendable choice. 

He sped up, but just a little. Just enough to see her shoulders relax and her eyes widen some, half excitement, half the little adrenaline junkie that she was. 

It came to him in bits and pieces, sometimes. Like a far away dream. They passed Max’s little friends on the road, but he didn’t know how he knew them. He just  _ knew _ . 

_ Sinclair, Henderson, Wheeler. _ He knew their names. 

“You going out with Sinclair this weekend?” 

She frowned  _ really hard _ at him. “How do you know my classmate’s name?” 

Billy couldn’t remember. “I don’t know.” He admitted. 

Weirder and weirder. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

_ Billy? _ The little girl’s voice called him.  _ Billy? You have to remember.  _

_ Remember, Billy _ . 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

It was Halloween, so Billy decided to attend Tina’s Halloween party. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do. He had been invited for the keg king contest, but it didn’t feel right. Nothing felt right. 

Something inside him told him that he needed to stay sober for the night. 

So he kept to himself by the corner of the main room, playing the new kid card. 

A girl in a white cardigan approached the punch bowl. Billy had seen about seven different people dipping alcohol in that stuff. 

“What’s in this?” She asked. The girl - Wheeler’s sister, he thought - was covered to her neck. All prim and proper. 

The greek-costumed boy beside her howled. “Pure fuel! Pure fuel! Whoo!” And burped.

Billy rolled his eyes. 

“Hey- Whoa, whoa! Hey, whoa, whoa, whoah! Take it easy. Take it easy, Nance. Nance, Nance.” The voice asked of the girl. That hair was unmistakable. Steve Harrington. 

“We’re just being stupid teenagers for the night.” Was her answer. She sounded bitchy. “Wasn’t that the deal?” 

Islands In The Stream by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers was blaring from the speakers. 

Billy felt the sudden need for a smoke. He left his glass of coloured juice behind and went outside. 

“No, no, no.” He heard Harrington’s voice about half an hour later. Him and pretty princess were probably not having the best of nights, then.

“Get off!”

“No, you’ve had enough, okay?” The boy insisted.

“Screw you!”

“Nance, I’m serious.” She put her cup into the punch again, all the while Harrington tried to stop her. “Hey, hey, hey. Stop. No, I’m serious.” Harrington fought her for the beverage. “Put it down.”

“No!” 

“Nance, put it down.”

“Steve! Stop! Stop!” She fought him back, right until that predictable moment where all the red liquid from her cup poured all over her white blouse. 

Everybody stopped what they were doing to watch. Billy took another swing of his glass.

“What the hell?” Nancy Wheeler said and walked away, followed loyally by her boyfriend. 

Billy got himself another cigarette. 

Harrington came out in another few minutes. He looked troubled. Like his world was falling apart. 

“Trouble in paradise?” Billy asked him, lighting his third cigarette of the night. 

The other boy turned to him. “What?” 

“I think everybody saw you fight with your girlfriend, Harrington.” Billy shrugged and got another cigarette on his hand, his already lit up between his lips. “Cigarette?”

“I quit.” Was his automatic answer. 

Billy kept holding it. 

Harrington waited a beat before taking it. 

Billy helped him light it up. Watched him take a long drag. 

“Hargrove, right?” Steve asked, leaning on the wall behind Billy. He just nodded in response. 

They smoked in silence until Jonathan Byers passed them, without even noticing, guiding Nancy Wheeler to his car. 

Then, Steve stepped on his cigarette and left. 

______________________________________________________________

Monday came by quietly. Billy and Steve had PE together - basketball, apparently. It felt good, to play again. He hadn’t done it since they left Cali. 

He blocked Harrington when he came against him with the ball. “Harrington, right?” He asked as the other boy tried to focus. “I heard you used to run this school. That true?” Billy asked him, but there was a tone there, recognizing the silliness of the question itself. 

Steve picked it up, barely holding down a smile. 

“I heard they used to call you king Steve.” That tore a chuckle from him. Billy answered in kind, still blocking him. “Then you turned bitch, apparently.” He gestured to Tommy, who had been watching the interaction. 

The former king of Hawkin’s High looked sad for a moment. “Hey, maybe you should just shut up and just play the game.”  _ I don’t wanna talk about it. _

Message received. 

But that didn’t mean Billy wouldn’t steal the ball and make a  _ gorgeous _ point, passing it underneath his leg to do it, even. 

When he turned, Steve was just watching, a small, impressed smile to his face.

And then the Wheeler bitch came along and scurried him away. 

Billy wasn’t sulking. He was  _ not _ . 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

_ Remember, Billy.  _

  
  


______________________________________________________________

The dream had been particularly easy to remember, this time. 

Billy woke up in cold sweat, screaming, tasting blood in his mouth. 

He woke up  _ angry _ . 

_ I told you to plant your feet. _

He wasn’t sure what to make of it. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

_ Stay away from him.  _

The words tasted like venom in his mouth. But why?

_ Stay away from him. _

“You’re distracted today, Hargrove.” Harrington noticed. 

“Get open!” Someone shouted behind him. 

He just felt like he was swimming in lead inside his own head. 

_ “Those monkeys live in our neighborhood. We better get some protection railings on the windows and door of this house _ .” Neil had been telling him and Susan the night before. “ _ I better now find you swapping recipes with that woman, Susan.” _ He looked pointedly at Billy.  _ “Maxine included.. God only knows what they would do to her. _ ” 

Steve dodged him with the ball and made a point, going back to look at Billy strangely.

_ Looks like you got some fire on you after all.  _ He tasted blood. 

He got the ball. 

“All right! All right, all right!” It all sounded like a theatrical piece to his ears. “King Steve! King Steve, everyone.” He liked his front teeth. “I like it. Playing tough today.” 

Steve frowned. “Jesus! Do you ever stop talking? Come on!” 

Billy ground his teeth and passed Harrington to score, leaving the other boy on the floor. 

The boy stared at him confusedly from where he fell. He relaxed a little when Billy offered him his hand.

He headache was blaring and instantaneous once he touched him. 

“You were moving your feet.” He told him.  _ If I can smell blood on the water, Harrington, so can everybody else. The difference is that they’ll bite. _ “Plant them next time, draw a charge.”

The whistle blew and Billy winced, dropping Harrington, who looked at him worriedly. 

“You alright, man?” 

Billy just nodded, eyes half-shut, and made his way to the locker room. 

Once there, under the cold shower, Tommy H. started talking again. Billy interrupted him in the middle of the boy’s rant. 

“You and the princess break up for one day, she’s running off with the freak’s brother.” He was telling Harrington. Billy kept his eyes shut under the water. It felt like a blessing to his pounding forehead. “Oh, shit. You don’t know.” Tommy laughed. “Jonathan and the princess skipped yesterday. Still haven’t shown. But hey, that must just be a coincidence, right?” He laughs again, leaving. 

Billy shook his head and let his hands slide through his hair. “Don’t sweat it, Harrington. Today’s just not your day.” 

Steve snorted. “Yeah. Not my week, actually.” 

“Don’t take it too hard, man.” Billy insisted, finally opening his eyes. All wrong, it was all wrong. “A pretty boy like you has nothing to worry about. Plenty of bitches i the sea.” He saw as Steve studied his face curiously. Did he have suds there still? “Am I right? I’ll be sure to leave some.” He opened a smile in camaraderie, solidarity. 

_ Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.  _

“Are you OK, man?” Steve asked again, staring at Billy. “You look off.”

“I’m fine, Harrington.” He kept on smiling.  _ wrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrong- _

______________________________________________________________

Billy dreamed of monsters. Of things that shouldn’t exist. He dreamed of tunnels and dead bodies. 

He dreamed of Maxine screaming. 

He dreamed of Eleven. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

“That kid you were talking to, who is he?” Billy asked Max as she entered the car. 

_ Maxine included.. God only knows what they would do to her. _

Billy knew, but he needed her to say it. 

“He’s no one.” 

“No one?” Billy asked, disbelieving. 

“This kid from my class.” She shrugged. 

“Why was he talking to you?” Billy insisted.  _ Just say it, Max. Come on. _

“It was just about a stupid class assignment.” Maxine laughed through her teeth. 

“Then why are you so upset?” 

“I’m not!”

Her eyes were red-rimmed. Billy didn’t hate the kid, but he was kinda angry. No one had the right to made her look like that. “He causing you trouble?” 

“Why do you care?” She spat, indignant.”

“Because, Max,” He waved his lit cigarette around, outside. He didn’t usually smoke with her inside the car. Read wasn’t good for her lungs. “You’re a piece of shit, but we’re family now whether we like it or not, meaning I’m stuck looking out for you.”  _ Because I care. I just do _ . 

“What would I ever do without-” She started mocking him and he held her wrist. It was just a second, though, a flash. 

Her eyes widened, and all he could see was her, looking a little older, braided hair. Crying and calling his name. 

“Billy?” Max called out. “I was just kidding, OK? But I can look after myself.” 

He knew she could. She was a tough cookie. 

He blinked. 

“Max,” He started, feeling his voice soften. His hold on her wrist, too. “Look. If Neil finds out you’ve been making friends with… with a  _ black _ kid, he’s going to freak out.” 

Her eyes narrowed. “He’s a racist?” 

“Amongst other things.” Billy sighed. “And if he finds out, there’ll be hell to pay.”

“I don’t care what he says, he’s not my father-” 

“There’ll be hell to pay  _ to me _ , Max.” He rubbed his face with his hand. “He is going to punish  _ me. _ ” 

She never  _ saw _ anything, but she wasn’t dumb. She  _ knew _ something. Billy was sure of it. 

“I’ll hide it, then.” Was her answer. “He’s never gonna know.” 

And when Neil finds out, Billy would be  _ accidentally _ beaten to death by his own father, who never knew when to stop. And it would be an  _ accident _ , too. Just like with Billy’s Ma. 

He sighed a resigned sigh and started the engine, getting them both out of there. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

Of course Neil knew. 

______________________________________________________________

_ He made me do it, Max.  _

_ You gotta believe me. _

______________________________________________________________

He parked outside the arcade, shades hiding his black eye. 

“The hell did I tell you?” 

“I’m not lat-” She stopped once she saw him. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Billy put the car in gear. Gave her a beat. “Who is he?” 

“You mean Lucas?” She replied without a thought, then blushed. 

Billy smiled teasingly. “So he has a name now, huh?” 

Maxine flushed harder. “We were just hanging out. The other guys were there too.” Then she looked at his eye. “How did he find out?” 

Billy shrugged. “Dunno. Don’t care.”

The girl paused. “I’m sorry.”

“Just try and be more careful, OK?” Billy asked her. 

She nodded, and he saw a field of rotten pumpkins and a little girl screaming behind his eyelids.

  
  


______________________________________________________________

_ That’s why you’ve been staring at yourself in the mirror like some faggot instead of watching your sister? _

Why did he feel like he  _ heard _ that before?

______________________________________________________________

Susan and Neil were still out of the house when Billy parked at the Byers’. 

He didn’t know how, but he  _ knew _ Maxine was there. 

“Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?” He shut the door of his car and took a couple of steps forward. 

“Yeah, it’s me. Don’t cream your pants.” 

He felt his fists hurt. He didn’t know why. 

“What are you doing here, amigo?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Harrington walked up to him. “Amigo.”

“Looking for my stepsister.” He answered. 

Steve bit his lip, now knowing what to answer. “Huh, that’s weird. I don’t know her.”

Billy sighed, exasperated. “Small? Redhead? Bit of a bitch.”

“HEY!” Her voice came from the inside. “ASSHOLE!”

“Told you to plant your feet, pretty boy.” Billy told Steve teasingly as the girl came out of the house in a rush.  _ You can’t lie for shit _ . 

“What are you doing here, Billy?” She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. 

Billy rolled his eyes. “You ran away from home. Susan and Neil are coming back in an hour, we gotta go.”

“We can’t!” He could see, now, how she looked frightened. 

“Why not?”

“Guys!” She turned to Sinclair and Wheeler. “We gotta tell him!”

“We can’t!” Henderson answered for the other two. “We signed a  _ contract _ , remember?” 

“I didn’t sign shit!”

“Language, Maxine.” Both him and Harrington told her.

“You didn’t sign it, but  _ we _ did, and if you tell Billy, it’s because  _ we _ told you!” Henderson insisted. “They are going to lock us in jail!”

“Alright, shut up everyone.” Billy raised his hands. “What the fuck is going on?” 

Under a  _ lot _ of protest - even physical, when Henderson tried to stop Maxine with his hands on her shoulders, being quickly deterred by an ugly glance from Billy - she guided him by the hand inside the house. 

“You have to promise not to tell anyone about this.” She said, suddenly very serious, standing in front of the refrigerator. 

“Max, I-”

“You have to  _ promise _ . Promise on  _ this _ ,” She held his Saint Christopher’s medal. The one from his dead mama. And she knew that. 

It was serious shit.

Billy nodded. “Alright. I ain’t telling anybody. On my ma’s grave, Max.” He answered her. “Now show me.”

She opened the freezer, and Billy didn’t need to see any more of it. He didn’t  _ want _ to see any more of it.

He turned to the three boys and Harrington, waiting expectantly by the kitchen door. 

It was real. It was all real. 

“I’m gonna ask you just one question, and then we gotta talk.” Billy announced, and could swear they were all holding their breaths. He took a deep breath, himself. 

“Do you happen to know a little girl who goes by Eleven?”

Billy didn’t need them to answer anything. The sharp inhale from the Wheeler boy told him everything he needed to know. 

“ _ Shit _ .” 

  
  


______________________________________________________________


	2. Part II

Part II

“Okay, Hargrove, cut the shit.” Henderson demanded of him, making Harrington roll his eyes. 

“Dustin,”

“No! He’s a spy! He’s clearly a spy!” The boy looked from one of his friends to the other’s. “Come on, guys! How else would he know about El?”

“That’s really strange.” Wheeler agreed, looking at Billy suspiciously. 

Max touched Billy’s forearm to get his attention. “How _do_ you know, Billy?”

Billy walked to the couches and sat on one. He rubbed his eyes, feeling like his brain was trying to unmake itself. 

“Ever since we got to Hawkins, I’ve been having these… _dreams_.” 

“Dreams?” Sinclair sat across from Billy. “Like… dreams that seem _very_ real?”

Billy nodded. “I dreamed about that thing.” He pointed at the open freezer. “But bigger.”

“In your dreams,” Harrington sat beside Sinclair, approaching Billy as if he was fragile, somehow. Maybe he looked it. “What does it do?” 

“It-” He hesitated, looking at the people in that room. They didn’t seem to think he was crazy. “This ain’t a prank, right?” 

“No, Billy, no, I swear.” Max sat beside him, holding his forearm once again, as if she was scared that he was going to disappear in front of her eyes. “Tell us. Please.” 

Billy sighed. Hesitated. “This _thing_ -”

“Big one is the Mind Flayer, little one we call demogorgon.” Wheeler piped in. Looked like he was trying to be helpful. 

“Alright. The Mind Flayer, the big one, it stops me by a road and sort of… _possesses_ me. My body.” 

“Like a demon?” Sinclair asked. 

“I guess.” Billy shrugged. “It makes me do those things. None of them make sense.” 

“What else?” Harrington demanded. 

“It-” Billy sighed again. “Look, man. This is gonna sound crazy, but Eleven, the girl, she… she was looking for it. For the Mind Flayer. And since it was in my head, she found me as well.”

“Can you describe her?” Henderson asked, looking like he was trying to confirm the whole thing. Billy didn’t mind it. 

“About Wheeler’s height, curly brown hair, brown eyes. She bleeds through her nose, sometimes, I don’t know why.”

“It’s her.” Wheeler looked at Steve. “What the hell is going _on_?”

“I don’t know.” Harrington turned to Billy again. “What else?” 

“She tried to reach me, and I tried to fight the Flayer thing, but none of it worked.” He messed with his hair, feeling feverish, nervous. Out of his mind. “It made me…” 

A sob made its way through his chest. Billy was caught by surprise. 

“It made you kill people, didn’t it?” 

Billy nodded. “It wanted Eleven. It wanted her _so bad_ , I just- I couldn’t fight it anymore. I was so _tired_.”

Wheeler leaned forward. “Did you?” He asked. “Get her, I mean.” 

He sniffled. “I kinda tried. She stopped me.” Billy looked at him. “You chose one hell of a spitfire, Wheeler.” 

The boy flushed. 

“Then what, Billy?” Max asked softly from beside him. 

“She… she talked to me about the beach.” Billy leaned back, tasting it again. The salt, the sand, the heat. His mother’s perfume. “Snapped me out of it. You were all there, I think, except for you, Henderson. Plus Wheeler-girl and the two Byers’ kids. And a girl I don’t know, think her name was Robin.” 

“Did we stop it?” Henderson asked him. “Did we kill the Mind Flayer?” 

“I don’t know.” Billy admitted. “I died before I could see anything.” 

They paused. 

“You _died?_ ” Sinclair exclaimed. “What do you mean, you _died_?” 

“The thing had… tentacles? Something like that.” Billy avoided their looks of shock. “I stood between it and Eleven while she recharged. So it killed me.” 

Silence befell the room. Billy took that time to recollect himself. 

“Do you think they were… _prophetic_ dreams?” Max asked him. 

“How would I know?” Billy frowned, finding the question ridiculous. 

“Dude, just go with your gut.” Steve asked him. “Do they _feel_ like something that’s going to happen?” 

Billy thought about it. “No. They… they feel like memories. Like I died and got a do-over with the memories as a guide about what to avoid.” He rubbed his forehead again. It was starting to hurt. 

“Like a videogame?” Henderson asked.

“Yeah, kinda like that, I think.” He agreed. “But the memories are more jumbled together. I’m not entirely sure of the timing of the storyline, or what’s gonna happen next. I just know bits and pieces.” He looked around. “It doesn’t even feel like the present, to be honest. You all look… older, in my mind.” 

“Guys,” Wheeler stood up. “We should be going to the tunnels right now.” 

“Don’t bother, kid.” Billy rose his arm. “The girl’s got it all covered. You’d only be taking yourselves into unnecessary danger, trust me. The demogorgons are never leaving that tunnel.” 

They all exchanged looks. 

“Billy, are you OK?” Damn, he was sick of people asking him that. 

“I’m fin-” But the room was turning a 180°. 

He passed out. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

He could hear Max crying. 

_Billy!_

“Can you bring him back?” 

“I don’t know.” He knew that voice. How did he know that voice?

_She was really pretty. So pretty._

“Jim, Steve, hold him down.” That voice asked. “Max, hold his hand.”

“Is it going to hurt?” 

_The wave was seven feet._

It crashed. 

______________________________________________________________

Billy woke up in an unfamiliar bedroom at an unfamiliar house. 

He was alone. 

He sat up, and then stood up, feeling wobbly, and so very heavy. So heavy. But his hands found the wall, and he could walk like that. He could. 

“Billy!” Max had been in the living room and shot up when she saw him. Apparently, the whole gang was there. 

“What… happened?” Even talking made him sluggish. 

“My sister.” A voice answered him, and he finally saw it. The girl, Eleven, just by his side. She opened a small smile. “Hi, Billy.” 

He felt his face melt in a smile of his own. “Hi, kid. How you’ve been doing?” 

“Good.” She answered with certainty. It felt nice to see it. 

“They’re coming back, right?” She asked him.

A heavy silence fell in the room.

Billy could make the brats’ scared expressions, Joyce Byers and Jim Hopper looking somewhat desperate, Jonathan and Nancy looking just confused. And Steve? Steve seemed to know just as much as Billy, somehow. Or he learned to stop expecting things to get better at some point. 

“Yeah, kid. They are.” He put his hand over her hair in what was supposed to be a comforting move. 

Eleven took a step forward and fell against him, hugging Billy. He hugged her back. 

“And there’s nothing we can do to stop it?” Little Byer’s voice came from beside her. He looked terrified. 

“No.” Billy admitted. “But it all ends up well.” He tried to fix it. “It’s alright.”

“You told us you _died_ . You told us that they come back, and you _die_ , Billy.” Maxine demanded, a slap on the face, making everybody flinch. “How is that _well_?”

Billy shrugged. “Hm.” He hesitated, and looked at the little girl who still had her arms wrapped around his waist. “I’m the only one who dies? I’d count that as a win.” 

Steve snorted. “What about those people you said the Mind Flayer killed?” 

El squeezed Billy. “I saw his mind. We can’t change that.” 

Hopper exhaled sharply. “I need a cigarette.”

“Not inside the house.” Joyce said immediately. 

The Chief looked incredulous. “Don’t you think we have bigger issues here than a little smoke?”

“Jim.” Her eyebrow was raised, and it was final. Billy watched as the cop put his cigarette away, looking extremely frustrated. 

Eleven finally let go of Billy, letting him sit back down. “What happened to me?” 

“Your memories. Old and new. They clashed.” Eleven explained, sitting beside him. “I separated them.” 

“You saw it, then.” 

“Yes.” She nodded. Got her hand over his. “She was… really pretty.”

Billy smiled. It hurt, but also felt good. Bittersweet. “Yes, she was, kid.”

“What are you talking about?” Max asked, sitting by his other side, curious. A little… jealous? Billy almost rolled his eyes. 

“My mother was pretty, too.” Eleven continued as a way of explaining. “Really pretty.” 

“Is she dead too?” Billy asked bluntly. 

“In a way.” She answered with a small shrug. 

“Okay, everybody!” Joyce Byers, who looked like she was about to cry, clapped her hands. “Jonathan and Nancy volunteered to get us all food, so if you have a request, do it now or he’ll just bring the standard order.” Getting things moving seemed to help. 

Billy didn’t care about food, but he got his wallet from his back pocket, handing the other boy some money. “Mine and Max’s.” 

“It’s like you’re a whole different person.” Max observed as the other kids yapped their orders away. They were probably all starving after the excitement of the night. 

“Maybe I am.” Billy admitted, looking around. He felt comfortable, if a little like an outsider, among those people. “Maybe I know better now.”

“My sister wanted to give you a chance to do things right.” Eleven informed him. “She told me what happened to you was unfair.” 

Billy nodded, squeezing her hand. “I hope I can, kid.” He turned to her. “I only know what I did wrong _that_ time. How can I know what I’ll do wrong now?” 

She shrugged simply. “I don’t think you can.” She agreed. “But now you have us. We don’t have to be alone anymore.” 

Billy shut his eyes and Max’s hand sneaked to hold his free one. 

He didn’t mind it. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

It was Harrington who found him smoking by the front porch. Jim had left, and warned him against letting El out of his sight. He wondered when he became trustworthy with a kid that could lift vans with her mind, but hey. Life wasn’t exactly _normal_ right then. 

“Hey.” Harrington stood beside him as he exhaled. He wondered what was it, now.

“Hey.”

“I was just thinking,” He started, looking a little bit awkward. “El told me she saw you beating me up. In your memories.” 

Billy hummed in agreement. 

“But you didn’t, this time.” 

Another hum. “Is there a question coming, Harrington?”

“What I wanted to know is,” He looked at Steve, really _looked_ , while the other boy tried to find the words to what he wanted express. “Is that because of the visions? Or…”

“You want a beating, Harrington, all you gotta do is ask.” 

Steve chuckled. “Yeah, thanks but no thanks.” He put his hands through his hair. “I was just wondering what made you change your mind. Besides, you know. You dying.” 

Billy pondered. “The Mind Flayer, as the kids call it-” He sighed. It was hard to explain. “It wasn’t the first monster I have ever encountered. If you know what I mean.” He side eyed Harrington, who looked empathetic. At least it wasn’t pity. “And I became one, for a while. When it possessed me. It was…” _Dead bodies, screams, blood_. “It was a wakeup call that nobody noticed I was possessed by something. That I wasn’t myself.”

Steve looked torn. “You pushed everyone away from the start, then.” 

“I-” He wanted to speak. He had _died_ , he wanted to speak up. Why did he feel like his throat was clogging? “When my mother died…” 

The door opened, Max coming from inside. “Joyce made you a vitamin.” She announced.

“Thanks, Max.” He took another drag from his cigarette, waiting for her to go back inside 

She didn’t, though, because when the fuck did she ever do what she was supposed to? “What are you talking about?” She crossed her arms over her chest. 

“-nothing-” 

“My mom.” Billy answered. No point in lying to her, not now. He didn’t wanna do that anymore. 

Max’s expression softened and she took a step towards them, sitting on the chair there. “You never really talk about her.” 

“She-” He felt so raw. But fuck it, right? “You know what my dad does, right?” He asked Max, sitting beside her. 

She nodded solemnly. “Yes.” 

“He did it to her.” Billy revealed. She inhaled sharply. 

“What does he do?” Steve demanded, looking confused, and shocked. 

“He beats Billy.” Max revealed before he could stop her. 

“What, like spanking?” He looked almost afraid of the answer. 

“No, like black eyes, bruised ribs and broken bones.” Her tone was poisonous. 

Steve looked up like he was asking for help from above. “ _Fuck_.” He looked at Billy again. “And he did it to your mom, too?” 

Billy nodded, defeated. “I couldn’t stop him. He wanted me to play baseball, but I didn’t like it. So she took me out of practice sometimes and took me to the beach to surf.” He didn’t have the strength to look them in the eyes, so he stared at a nearby tree. “He found out from the practice attendance call.” 

Max put a hand over Billy’s shoulder, and Steve just stood there. Despite them not knowing what to do, Billy was thankful. 

“What happened?” 

“He hit her in the face with the phone.” Inhale. Exhale. “She fell. I tried to stop him, but he did it again. Twice.” He stared at his hands. “A neighbor called an ambulance, but it was too late. She was dead.” 

Maxine was grinding her teeth. “He told my mom she _left_.” 

Billy chuckled. “Yeah, no. And he blames me. Because I was too much of a pussy to go through with practice. If I had just toughened up, he wouldn’t have done what he did.”

“ _Respect and responsibility_.” She connected the dots. “It’s his motto.”

“Ever since we buried her, I wasn’t allowed to bring her up.” 

“How old were you?” Harrington sat by Billy’s other side. 

“Eight.”

“ _Fuck_.” Harrington repeated. “That explains a lot.”

Billy just shrugged. “I wish it didn’t.” 

He wouldn’t have noticed that the door had been open the whole time if Joyce Byers hadn’t been crying when she brought him his glass of fruit vitamin. Steve had to think quick and get the glass before she made him scootch over and hugged Billy really tight. 

What was it with these people, hugging him?

He said nothing, though. Her hug felt like his mom’s, warm and loving. The woman might be a bit unhinged, but she gave good hugs. 

Jonathan arrived short after with all the food, but none of the people in that porch moved. The boy and his girlfriend asked nothing, just passing them by with the bags on his hands without saying a word. 

“Jonathan and Will know this.” Joyce let him go slowly, eyes on Billy’s face, cupping his cheek his her hand. It was warm, and soft. Kinda like his Ma’s. “The final straw for me to leave my husband was that… the last time he beat me-” The word came out as a choked sound. Max put her hand over Joyce’s shoulder and the woman put one of her hands on top of Maxine’s, thanking her silently for her support. “I was pregnant, then. I always wanted a girl, and I was pregnant-” 

“Joyce-” The voice, Jim Hopper’s voice, came from the door. 

She shook her head, tears falling. “No. No, I have to say this.” She wiped her cheeks with her hand and her hand on her jeans before going back to squeezin Billy’s fingers. “I lost my baby that night. My baby girl.” She nodded, more tears falling. Billy barely knew her, but he already wanted to rip the man that did that to her apart with his bare fingers. “So I left him. And when he found me and tried to do it again, Jim, who has just an officer back then, showed up.”

Hopper took a few steps forward, crouching beside Joyce. He put one hand over her knee, very supportive. 

As she didn’t seem to be able to speak anymore, Billy came to their aid. “What did you do?” He asked Hopper, who offered Billy a grim smile. 

“I stopped him, then gave her a gun. In front of him.” Hopper said, no regret in his voice. “Told him that if he showed up again, either she or me would kill him, and I would make _sure_ none of us would ever see the inside of a cell.” 

Steve whistled as a way to lighten the mood. “Badass.” 

A quick chuckle tore from Hopper’s lips. “Illegal, too. But it did the trick.” 

“You’re not alone, Billy.” Joyce squeezed his hand once again. 

“I should be.” Was his answer. “I was an asshole.” 

“If you’re implying that you deserve what your dad did to you, kid, you got another thing coming.” Hopper stood up. In his full height, he was pretty intimidating. “The monster here is your dad-”

“And the demogorgons.” Max popped in.

“And the Mind Flayer.” Billy completed.

Jim rolled his eyes and huffed. “Jesus Christ.” 

“I guess there are too many monsters in Hawkins, Hop.” Joyce reached for his hand, and the Chief honest to God _blushed_. “You’re an expert on those.”

“Yeah I am.” He admitted, squeezing her hand back. “God help me, but I am.” 

“Guys, Mike and Lucas are going to eat all the burgers if you don’t come quick!” Henderson interrupted their moment from the front door.

“Am not!”

“No!” Came the protests from inside. 

“Alright, let’s eat, then.” Steve moved forward, placing one arm around Henderson’s shoulder to guide him inside. 

“Mike, if you touch my strawberry shake, I swear to God-” Maxine followed them after a last look at Billy, who smiled at her in reassurance. 

“Let’s go.” Joyce stood up, pulling Billy inside. “Let’s go get some food inside you.”

Billy followed along willingly. He wasn’t hungry, but he sure as hell wasn’t ready to let go of all that warmth yet. 

  
  
  


_Now you see, Billy?_

  
  
  


When they got home, Neil waited until Max was in her room to do his thing. There wasn’t a surprise to it, he just slapped Billy across the face and kicked him in the gut while reciting the “respect and responsibility” shebang 

Billy felt like Starcourt Mall all over again. But, this time, he surrendered. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

Maxine’s lower lip trembled when she saw him in the morning. Billy just shook his head to make her shut up. It wasn’t worth it. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

“Hargrove,” Hopper stopped him while he was getting out of school. “Kid.”

“Hi Chief.” He cursed his luck. Split lip, split brow and nowhere to hide his face. 

“ _Fuck_ ,” He cursed, and Billy gave him an ugly look, because Maxine was _right there_. 

“What’s up?” He tried to look casual. If word got out that Hopper was chatting with Billy on a morning like that, Neil would know, and for _sure_ he wouldn’t think it was anything innocent. 

“El called.” He explained solemnly. “Said you needed help.”

Billy trained his most charming smile. It hurt his lip. “Nope. I’m alright, thanks for offering.” 

“Come on, kid.”

“Hop.” Max opened the Camaro’s door, looking urgent. “If we’re late, it’ll be worse.” 

“Where are you going?” Jim asked. 

“Why?”

“El really wants to see you.” The policeman sighed. “I’d rather take her safely somewhere than have her wondering around the town looking for you.” 

“We are going to the arcade!” Max told him. 

“I gotta be at the shop by two, though.” Billy warned them both. Why wouldn’t they leave him alone? Him and his stupid big mouth. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Frank, he won’t mind it.” Hopper assured him. 

Billy frowned. “Why?” But Hopper was already going back to his car. 

He just answered “Because I said so!” He put his four-wheel on gear to leave.

He exchanged a look with Maxine, who looked like someone with a secret. “Max…” 

“I didn’t have anything to do with it!” She threw her arms up. 

“So there _is_ something.” He entered the Camaro and shut the door. 

“Yes, but you can’t run from it now.” She was pouting. “Come ooooon!”

“Alright, alright!” Billy rolled his shoulders, then his eyes. “Damn it.” 

She just smiled. 

_Teenagers._

  
  


______________________________________________________________

“I don’t understand why I have to be here.” Billy complained inside that cramped room at the arcade. With Hopper at the door, though, he had little to no chance of escaping. 

“We’re _here_ to make some plans!” Henderson says like Billy’s a moron. “So you don’t _die,_ idiot!”

Billy sighed. “I’d rather die than to be here, actually.”

“Billy!” Maxine looked actually offended by that. “This is serious!” 

He just shook his head. “Look. I told you already. None of us can do anything. I know there are russians involved, and the government, and it’s not like we have any power over them.” He shrugged. “Just leave it.” 

“Just _leave_ it?” Wheeler sounded just as indignant. “Just _leave_ it?” 

“Yeah.” Billy shrugged. “Just make sure I don’t kill anybody when I’m possessed and it should be fine.” 

“Are you _insane?_ ” Wheeler was frowning hard. 

“Hey, if it’s about my size, I stopped lifting weights, and I’m cutting down on good food.” He shrugged again. “So I’m smaller when it comes for me.”

“What the hell, man?” Henderson stood up. “It’s like you _want_ to die!”

“I don’t actively _want_ to die.” Billy answered. “I just don’t see the point in going through all of that trouble to try to stop something that we _can’t stop_.”

“If you remember how you were taken, then you can avoid that.”

Billy shook his head. “It chose me for a reason. I am… resilient.” He explained, not wanting to go into the _why_. “And… angry. I’m an easy target because of that.” He let out, feeling like a loser for that. 

“ _Why_ are you so angry?” Will asked him, and _fuck_. That kid. 

Billy rubbed his eyes with his hands. Hopper’s kid was the one to talk, though. 

“Is it because of your papa?” She asked, voice small, but powerful enough to silence everyone. “And what he did to your mom?” 

Hopper sighed. “Kid, what did I say about snooping around other people’s minds?” 

“My sister gave me the memories for a _reason_.” She looked pissed at Hopper in that way only kids were allowed to. 

“Maybe,” Hopper conceded. “But that’s not your secret to tell. You know that.” 

“Wait up, hold on,” Henderson held a hand up high. “What _did_ your dad do to your mom? I know Susan isn’t your mom, Max told us that.” 

Hard silence befell them, and conclusions were taken there. 

“Everybody knows my dad was a bad dad,” Little Byers said, eyes on Billy’s. It was too intense, too much for a child. Billy hated it. It was bad enough that _he_ had gone through that, nobody else should have to. “But not many people know that he beat her. Made her lose a baby, too.” He fiddled with his shirt. “Is it like that?” 

He hesitated, but nodded, exhaling in a rush. “Yeah, kid. Kinda like that.” 

“But… your mom is dead, right?” Wheeler asked him. Damn, they were all broken hearts there. “Did he…?”

“He did.” Billy looked away from the kids.

More silence. “Why don’t you just get out of the house?” Sinclair asked him, voice small. 

“Hopper can probably explain it better than me.” His fingers itched for a cigarette. “But the law doesn’t allow it. I’d just be taken home again, and it’d be worse.” 

“And you never seen anything?” Wheeler asked Max, who looked sheepish. 

“I thought Neil called him names or broke his records,” She sounded ashamed. “I knew he was nasty to Billy. I just never thought it’d be that much.” 

“So we can’t do anything?” That boy had some fire in him, alright. 

“Papa made me angry, too.” Eleven’s voice cut through the noise again. “I was angry, and… sad. But… part of it, was because I was lonely.” Her eyes fucking pierced right through him. “Are you lonely, Billy?” 

He made a face. “Look. I’m not some project, OK? I’m not a pet you caught on the street and needs a bath and some scabies medicine.” 

“No, but it seems like if this was a chess game, you’d be the queen.” Wheeler corrected him. “You’re an essential piece, for some reason. We gotta _do_ something. And if making you less angry is a part of it, then so be it.” 

“Fuck this, I’m not a fucking charity case.” Billy walked through the nerds and gave Hopper the ugly eye. “Let me go.” 

A hand got to his. “Billy. We just wanna help.” It was Little Byers. 

He shook his head. “I only told you that so you’d understand what the Mind Flayer wants, how it works. I didn’t ask for any help.” 

“Yeah, but you’re getting it, pal,” Henderson announced and the other ridiculous children nodded their little, stupid heads. 

Billy was surprised that he was able to push Hopper aside. Once he did it, though, he got into his car and drove back to work. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________


	3. Part III

Part III

“Hargrove.” Harrington got him at work, the bastard. He couldn’t even run away. 

“Fuck off, Harrington.” Billy slid out of his cart from underneath the car. 

“I don’t think I can, actually.” He shrugged. 

“What, the nerd committee is going to make you run away crying?” He mocked. 

“No.” He shrugged. “But Will asked me to come. Said you left the arcade upset.” Billy kept staring at him. “Have you ever  _ seen _ that boy pouting? It’s impossible to say no. I don’t know how his mom does it, I swear.” 

Billy rolled his eyes. “Little Byers looks like a wet, lost cat most of the time.” 

“Yeah.” Steve agreed with a small smile. “I think he’s got a crush on you.”

His heart skipped for a moment, but it wasn’t anything good. Just plain, blunt fear. “What?” 

“Will. I think he’s got a crush on you.” Harrington said easily. Like people didn’t die for that kind of thing. “It’s cute, actually. When you first got here, while the other boys were all circling Max, he couldn’t stop waxing poetry about how  _ cool _ you looked and how  _ tan _ , how  _ strong _ ,” Harrington rolled his eyes. 

“Sounds like you’re jealous, pretty boy.” Billy commented with a small frown, cleaning up his screwdriver with a rag. 

“Not my type,” Harrington answered him. “But I kinda felt it, yeah. He used to have a crush on  _ me _ before, so. It was a bit of a blow to my ego.” 

He was surprised. Apparently, the kid was a faggot and Harrington didn’t care. 

“He’ll grow out of it.” Billy shook his head. “It’s just a phase.” 

Steve hummed. “Maybe.” He conceded. “And maybe Mike will grow up and be a little more to Will’s tastes.” 

“Jesus,” The blond exclaimed, disturbed. “If you want them dead, should do it yourself, Harrington. It’s more merciful.” 

“If I wanted them dead, I would do it.” He agreed. “Since I don’t, I’ll keep that bat of mine - you heard about that, I’m sure - in my trunk and beat up whoever tries to  _ stop them _ .” 

“Very mighty of you, Harrington.” Billy remembered that boy’s nose crunching underneath his fists. He tore his eyes away. 

“Well, Little Byers is certainly too young for me. Not to mention too good.” He stood up from the cart and went to get another tool. He wasn’t even completely sure of what he needed next, he just wanted to keep his hands busy. 

Steve chuckled. “He’s too good for anybody in this town.” He agreed. 

Phillips! That’s what he needed, and he had forgotten. A phillips screwdriver. 

“Look, I’m saying I understand what you’re going through,” Harrington insisted, and Billy interrupted him. 

“No, what you’re saying is that you’re here because Little Byers is a manipulative little kid you can’t say no to.” 

Steve snorted. “Like you’re any better with Maxine, despite being an asshole to her.” 

“Have you  _ heard _ her screaming?” Steve laughed more. It was a pretty sound. 

Billy shook his head. “Look, man. I don’t need you to be here.” 

“I know you don’t.” Steve agreed. “But to be honest, we are all kinda scared about what you and El told us.”

Billy snorted. “Don’t wanna keep me off your sight, then?” He rolled his eyes. “That’s gonna make it hard for me to get some, Harrington.” 

“I’m sure you can figure that out by yourself.” Was his answer.

“You gonna watch that, too?” He was trying to  _ tease _ Harrington, to  _ offend _ him so he’ll get away, but the other boy was adamant in staying.

What was  _ happening? _

“Would that help?” Harrington rose one eyebrow. 

“Fuck you.” Billy rolled his eyes, trying to play it off. Harrington was unshakeable. 

“Yeah, you gotta buy me dinner before that pal.” He crossed his arms over his chest daringly. Then he softened. “Seriously, though. You gotta understand. I know both you and El said that some deaths are not preventable - I get it, I hate it, but I get it - but I still can’t believe  _ yours _ isn’t. And I can’t let you die in the hands of the Mind Flayer without a fight.” 

“You have one hell of a hero complex there, princess.” Billy laid on the car again and rolled underneath the car. 

“Maybe.” Harrington agreed. “And maybe I just wanna make sure you’re OK. That you don’t die when we could have stopped it.” He shook his head. “We already lost too many people for this thing. I’m not letting it take away any more of mine.”

Billy narrowed his eyes. “I’m not  _ yours _ , Harrington.” 

“You’re Max’s, she made that very clear. And since I consider Max to be one of mine, you come in her pocket.” 

He shut his eyes and laughed. “Sure, OK. It’s your time, you do whatever the hell you want. Just stop annoying me and stay out of my way.” 

In the end, Harrington did that, engaging in a conversation with Frank about the merits of the newest BMW model. 

And that, more than anything, made it all seem much more surreal than monsters walking underneath a city like Hawkins, of all places. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

“Maxine,” Billy called her name as soon as she was inside the Camaro, the following morning. “You gotta get Harrington off of my back.” 

She put her seatbelt on, face already turning into a storm. “Why do you think I can do that?” 

Billy huffed in impatience. “Because you have us all wrapped around your little finger, is that what you want to hear, you gremlin?”

She had a big smug smile on. “Thank you for recognizing it.” Oh my God, Billy was going to  _ die _ . “But I can’t.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because while I have my manipulation strategies, none of them are as good as Will’s pouting.” She shrugged. “It’s a lost cause.” 

Billy groaned and slapped his steering wheel a couple of times. 

“Why are you so mad about that?” She looked puzzled. “I mean, I know you don’t like Steve but-”

“It’s just  _ annoying _ , OK?” 

She eyed him weirdly. “Billy…” 

“-What?” He wasn’t thinking about Harrington’s smile, he wasn’t. He wasn’t thinking how  _ touchable _ he looked, soft and warm all the time. 

_ Fuck _ . 

“Billy!” Max had apparently been calling him for a while

“Uh? What?” 

“You look weird.” She was frowning at him. 

“Weird how?”

“I don’t know.” She answered. “Look in the mirror.” 

He did, the rearview mirror serving as it, and  _ his eyes were yellow.  _

Billy pulled the car from the road.

_ Shit. _

  
  


______________________________________________________________

He had glasses on and called Frank to say he wasn’t feeling well. Maxine called her bunch of nerd friends, plus Joyce and Hopper, to Steve’s place, which was empty for the weekend. 

“Alright, I brought El.” Hopper was the last one to arrive. “What the fuck is that about yellow ey-HOLY JESUS!” He exclaimed when his eyes fell on Billy’s. 

“Yeah.” He agreed with a sigh. 

“I think it looks cool.” Little Byers contributed. 

Billy could see Steve rolling his eyes from his side. “Whatever you think it’s cool, kid, it’s still  _ abnormal _ . People will freak out if they see this.” He rubbed his forehead, distressed. So much so that Maxine put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. 

“Do you know what’s happening?” She asked Eleven, who nodded. 

“When my sister, Ten, undid that…” Eleven looked at Mike for help.”

“Timeline, I guess?” He provided. 

“Timeline,” She smiled in thanks. “When she undid it, she had to bring you back from death.”

“So?” Billy asked, confused. 

“So, you were touched by death.” She shrugged. “No one can die and come back the same.” 

“Why is it just showing now, though?” It was incredible how Steve could get over all that nonsense so fast. Hopper seemed like he was going to explode - kinda like Billy - and Joyce looked shaken. 

The kids, though, all looked normal - their lives were apparently one big game of Dungeons and Dragons. 

“It’s a sign.” She was clearly struggling with words. “You are doing wrong.”

Billy huffed. “Kid, I haven’t messed up anything in  _ weeks _ .” He tried to ignore that there were other people around them. 

“I know.” El agreed with a tiny nod. “But your papa hit you again.  _ And _ you are still lonely.” 

“What the fu- _ hell _ does that have to do with anything?” 

“She sent you back to  _ fix _ things.” El looked like she was losing her patience with his stupidity. “But you’re not  _ doing _ anything.”

“I’m doing my best, OK?” He stood up, suddenly feeling electric, like the air before a lightning storm. “I’m staying out of trouble, I’m not working out, I’m  _ talking _ to you people, I’m not being a complete asshole to Max-” 

“Not enough.” Eleven shrugged her fragile shoulders. 

“Then what am I supposed to  _ do _ ?” He asked her, verging on desperate. 

She walked up to him and touched his chest. He tasted seabreeze. “What you  _ want _ . That’s your guide.” 

Billy almost fell under her little hand. “Life doesn’t work like that, kid.” His voice came more clogged than he meant it to.

El smiled. “It could. If you let it.” Her eyes fell on Steve and Billy had the urge to shake her. 

“ _ Stop snooping _ ,” He hissed. Fuck, talking about it made it seem so much realer. 

Her laughter twinkled in his ears. It reminded him so much like his Ma’s, he didn’t have the heart to get her to stop. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

He had his Raybans on almost 24/7 now.

Billy had to learn to walk with his eyes half-closed until Sinclair brought him some blue contacts from his house. 

“It was part of my Halloween costume last year. It’s sanitized, though, I promise!” The boy seemed so  _ eager _ to get on Billy’s good side. 

If only he knew.

“Thanks, kid.” He put them on in the school bathroom. It almost looked like his normal color. “I owe you one for that.” 

“Don’t mention it.” Sinclair smiled, watching him.

Billy turned to him. “Does it look OK?” He needed someone else to check. 

“Yeah.” Sinclair guaranteed and handed him a small bottle. “If it starts feeling blurry, throw some eye drops on, or the lenses may fall out or come out of place when you blink.” He explained. 

Billy nodded. “Thanks, kid.” Then he leaned against the sink and crossed his arms over his chest. “You hurt my sister, I hurt you, you hear me?” 

He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “W-what?”

“I’ve seen stuff, remember? I know you’re gonna ask her out.” 

He looked excited. “Does… does he say yes?” 

“Well, stuff changed from then to here, so I don’t know if she’ll say yes here, but I think she did before.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t very close to her. I’m trying to change that, but I can’t tell you for sure.” He cocked his head. “That doesn’t mean the shovel talk isn’t valid.” 

Sinclair nodded. “Okay.” It looked like respect in his eyes.  _ Fuck _ .

Billy lowered himself to look the kid in the eye. “Look… in that…  _ timeline _ , as you call it,” He shook his head. “I was an asshole to you. I’m not a racist, but my dad is one big bigot, and he punishes me when Max does stuff he doesn’t like.Here she’s been trying to keep him from knowing about you two, but I think you should know  _ why _ . He-” Billy hesitated. “He’s violent, and that’s not OK, but I’m telling you this to protect you, OK?” 

Lucas looked sad now. “Max told me he beats you.”

Billy nodded. “Yeah. Not gonna lie, kid, he does. Last time he heard that you were together with her, I got a black eye.” 

The boy winced. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, don’t apologize.” He answered energetically. “You have every right to date whoever consenting person you want. My dad is the asshole, that’s not on you, okay?” He guaranteed, a bit awkwardly, but truthful nonetheless. “I just wanted you to know that you should stay clear from him, alright? It’s dangerous for you, and he likes catching people by surprise.” 

Lucas swallowed dry. “Thanks for the warning, I guess.” 

“I know it’s awful,” Billy straightened himself and sighed. He was  _ trying _ , damn it, and his eyes were as bright yellow as ever. “Times change but some people refuse to.” 

“My dad told me about that.” He nodded. “Thank you for the warning.” 

“I wish I didn’t have to say any of this stuff to you,” He sighed. “But assholes like Neil are probably always going to exist, and we gotta learn how to deal with them.” 

Sinclair cocked his head. “What do you mean,  _ we _ ? You’re  _ white.”  _

_ Say it, Billy _ . 

“I am.” Billy agreed. “But I’m also… something else. Something that could get me into much more trouble these days, actually.” He hoped to God the kid wouldn’t be able to guess what it was. “So while I don’t have to wear what they see as a  _ problem _ on my skin, like you,” The kid didn’t seem offended, so he continued. “I know what’s like to watch yourself all the time and to be afraid.” 

Lucas nodded. “Thanks, Billy.”

“Thank  _ you _ ,” He said, but half of it was to Eleven’s sister, wherever the freaky kid was. “Thanks.” 

_ No more of a freak than you _ , a voice said in his head, and Lucas looked at him strangely, because Billy started to laugh at nothing, the sounds echoing through the small room. 

“What’s going on here?” Henderson entered, seeing how Lucas was frowning. “What’s gotten into him?”

“I think he snapped.” Was Lucas’ conclusion, and Billy just laughed harder. 

If only he knew. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

“Hey,” Harrington once again was hanging around the shop, apparently. It was Billy’s turn to do boring stuff like changing oil, so he had been crawling off of his skin when he got there. 

Steve looked cool, like always. It only made Billy mor restless. 

“Fuck off, Harrington.” 

“Started early. I’m impressed.” Steve put his hands on his pockets. “What’s up?” 

“What’s up is you fucking off, pretty boy.” Billy cleaned his hands on a rag. Damn it all to hell. 

“Don’t think so.” He leaned against Billy’ station. “What’s up today?” 

“Nothing,” He rolled his eyes. “Go away.” 

“I’m not doing that.” Steve insisted. 

“You’re really testing my patience, Harrington.” 

“What you gonna do?” The other boy challenged. “Hit me?”

The motherfucker. Billy just growled  _ loudly _ to avoid punching him, turning his back to Harrington, who smiled. He could hear Frank laugh from afar. “And fuck you too!” The laughter came even harder. 

Harrington had been chuckling when Billy turned back to him. “What the fuck do you want?” 

“To hang out.” He shrugged. 

Billy rolled his eyes. “At my  _ job _ ?” 

“I don’t mind.”

“Grease smell? Gas smell?” He tried again, eyeing the other boy up. 

Harrington shrugged again. “Not like you don’t smell like that  _ all _ the time. There’s just some more cologne over it, usually.” 

Billy frowned. “I try not to, but it’s hard when I work here. It’s like it  _ sticks _ to my skin, no matter how much I shower.” 

“I already said I don’t mind, Hargrove. Chill.” He was still smiling that placid smile. Billy wanted to gut him. Or to kiss him against his station, if nothing else, to make him shut up. 

“Yeah, you come here all prim and proper, like you never even stepped into a mechanic shop before, so.” He made a face. “I’m allowed to assume.” 

“You’re  _ really _ not, Hargrove, but I don’t mind.” Harrington looked like he was resigned to being stereotyped. Not like he wasn’t a white, rich, redneck boy, but still. 

But Billy felt that. And he felt the shame that came with it. That’s  _ not _ what he came back for. 

“Sorry.” 

“No harm done, Hargrove.” Steve was full-blown smiling now, as if Billy was  _ amusing _ to him, a cat hissing but with no claws or teeth. 

“Alright, you wanna stay there? Then be quiet and hand me my tools when I ask.” Billy laid back on his cart and went back underneath the car. 

“Yessir.” Harrington answered and Billy almost hit his head on the fucking carburetor. 

_ Fuck _ . 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

“Fuck  _ no.”  _ He said as soon as Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler sat with him during lunch in the cafeteria. But Jonathan chuckled and Wheeler rolled her eyes, so he was  _ definitely _ losing his edge. 

“Steve’s coming.” She warned him. 

“I’m not a charity case, Wheeler.” 

“You’re too cute to be a charity case.” Harrington announced as he sat beside Billy without him seeing. 

“Fuck you.” Billy answered, biting his apple just to keep busy. He’d rather be there with those losers than to hear Tommy H. speak. Didn’t even matter what he was talking about, just hearing him  _ speak _ was annoying enough. 

And Steve, right beside him, smelled good. Like grass and rain and pine, something warm and comfortable that you’d smoke in a cold winter day. 

He wasn’t listening to them speak, but he knew Harrington was laughing at something Jonathan said, and that Wheeler seemed very comfortable sitting with her present boyfriend and her ex. It was all a little surreal. 

“Is that Saint Christopher?” She asked him suddenly, snapping him out of his musings. 

“What?”

“Your medal.” Wheeler repeated. “Is that Saint Christopher?” 

He looked down and held the medal for a moment. “Yeah.”

“Who is Saint Christopher?” Jonathan asked, looking interested, the nerd. 

“Just a saint.” Billy shrugged, but Wheeler seemed to know better. 

“He served a man, then the devil, and then Christ. Since he said that he couldn’t serve by fasting and prayer, because of his size and martyr nature, he was instructed to assist Christ by helping people cross a dangerous river. It’s said that he ended up carrying Christ himself.” She narrated. “Then he visited Lycia and converted thousands of people. Since he refused to be bribed or bought with riches or women, he was beheaded.” 

“A martyr.” Steve stared at Billy evaluatingly. “Saving children from danger with his physical strength and resilience.” He rolled his eyes. “Fitting.”

Wheeler was containing a laugh and Jonathan looked amused. “I feel like I already told you to fuck yourself, but you don’t seem to listen.” Billy pointed out and hid the medal. “My ma gave it to me when I was a kid.” 

“You miss her, don’t you?” Jonathan asked him, his voice soft - but then again, it always was. 

Billy huffed. “Who wouldn’t?” He shrugged, and then looked at theirs sorry faces. “Alright, let’s talk about something else.  _ Anything _ .”

“Nance is thinking about buying a car.” The Byers boy provided. “But she’s not sure which to get.” 

“And you have  _ no _ opinion on the matter?” Billy looked at him, suspicious. 

Jonathan just shrugged. “My mom bought mine as a gift. I don’t really know anything about cars.” 

Billy turned to Steve, who raised his hands. “Don’t look at me, I don’t know anything either.” 

He then turned to Wheeler, who looked like a person who would do  _ research _ before buying a car. She looked sheepish, though. “I know you work at a shop. I have limited budget and all I want is a car that has the lowest maintenance and that fits what I can pay.” She explained. “That means it’s… a  _ lot _ of research, actually.” 

Billy hummed. “Come by the shop at three. I can give you some pointers while I work.” 

She nodded. “Okay! Steve can take me, right?” 

He didn’t look all that happy. “If he promises to keep his shirt on, yeah.” 

Billy laughed, looking around. “It’s warm out, pretty boy. You want me to faint from the heat?” He looked at Jonathan, though, to see if he looked bothered. That was a negative, thankfully. 

“Steve, it’s nothing  _ everyone in this school _ hasn’t seen before.” She rolled her eyes. “Besides, it’s really not that impressive.” 

Billy just cocked her head, looking at her. Eventually she averted her eyes and flushed a bit. 

“OK, I take it back. It’s… a little impressive. For your age.” 

Satisfied, he looked back at his plate while Steve rolled his eyes and Byers, once again, just laughed. 

“You’re all  _ so _ weird.” He sighed, but it wasn’t supposed to offend. It was just an observation. 

“Welcome to the club.” Jonathan said, and Billy couldn’t help but looking surprised. 

He just wolfed down all his food and stood up to go away. 

“See you at the shop, Hargrove!” Wheeler shouted at him and he huffed. Damn. Now the entire school knew. 

Fuck ‘em all to hell. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

He had been humming to AC/DC when they arrived. 

Wheeler, as always, looked prim and proper; Harrington had a T-shirt and jeans on, so. Of course, he didn’t have a shirt on, and flashed the girl a very bright smile when she approached his station. 

She didn’t seem impressed, and just rolled her eyes. “OK, Hargrove. We gotta talk.”

“Shoot, princess.” He leaned with his hip on his table, just to see her roll her eyes again. Bonus seeing Steve flush and look like he didn’t know what to do with himself, since Billy was  _ flirting with his ex right in front of him.  _

“OK, my budget is this.” She showed him in confidence, hiding the paper from Steve. 

“I can get you a good used car for half of this.” He told her, evaluating it. 

“But don’t used cars demand more maintenance?” Harrington asked, still trying to see over Billy’s shoulder. 

“Not necessarily.” He answered. “I gotta go with you choose, though. If you’re saving to move in with your boyfriend, that’s a good choice.” 

She flushed. “Hm. That may be on the plans, yes.” 

He nodded, understanding. No need to mock that. Billy could just wish he had somebody to make plans with like that. “There are a couple of people who come to the shop for repairs and stuff, who are selling their cars. If I know the inside of the hoods like I do, I can get you a good deal.” He gave her back her paper. “You keep looking, but I’ll call you when I find something.” 

She smiled. “Thank you, Billy.” And leaned on the table too, right beside him. “Anything I can do for you? To repay this favor.”

Billy shrugged. “No need, really. It’s fine.” He started cleaning his fingers on his trusty rag. 

“ _ Nothing _ ?” She insisted and looked at Steve, then back at Billy. Steve, thankfully, was distracted by a phillips screwdriver. “Nothing at all?” 

Billy frowned at her. “No. Nothing. And if you keep giving me lip I’ll get you a car that’s gonna need maintenance every  _ month _ .”

“All bark, no bite.” She had the gall to pat his abs. 

“You wanted to touch me so much you only had to ask.” He arched one eyebrow. 

She smirked. “Jonathan doesn’t mind a bit of looking.”

“What about groping?” He narrowed his eyes at her. 

“Shut up, Hargrove.” She rolled her eyes. “I have to get some things from the hardware store on the next block, so.” She kissed Billy’s cheek, and then Steve’s, leaving by foot. 

Billy rolled his eyes. “Such a drama queen.” 

“Yeah.” Steve agreed, but he looked distracted, like he didn’t even know what Billy was talking about. 

“So. She’s gone.” Billy turned to him. “You’re still here.”

Steve hummed in agreement. Still looking dumb. 

“ _ Why _ ?” 

He was kicked into gear by that. “Because.” 

It was Billy’s time to roll his eyes, but he didn’t complain this time. Just rolled underneath the car and expected Harrington to give him the right tools, at least. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

Will had been waiting for Billy, already inside his Camaro, after class. Billy didn’t even wanna know how the kid knew how to do something like that, open a car without the keys. 

He slid in. “Hi, Little Byers.”

“Hi Billy.” He looked fidgety. 

“Wanna tell me what you’re doing uninvited inside my car?” 

“I-” Little Byers fidgeted in his seat. “I-” He looked a bit panicky, so Billy put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Take your time, kid.” He probably knew what was coming, anyway. 

The kid took a few deep breaths before daring to speak again. “El- she didn’t mean bad, I swear she didn’t. She just doesn’t know what people think it’s  _ bad _ , or the concept of a secret, or-”

“Just  _ spit it out _ , kid.” He insisted. 

“Okay.” Will finally looked at Billy. “She told me you like boys.” 

_ Fuck _ . Fuckity fuck. “Okay.” His mind was racing a thousand miles a second. What was happening? Did he tell anyone? Was he there to tell Billy that he was disgusting and would tell everyone about it? Was he there to warn Billy that Joyce would be calling Neil?

“I just, I swear I didn’t tell anybody. She only told me because…” He bit his lip, fiddled with his fingers. “I’ve been having these… doubts. And Dustin says that’s normal, he read some book on human sexuality that explains that, but still, I wanted to-”

“Okay, you need to breathe or you’ll give yourself an aneurysm kid.” He squeezed the boy’s shoulder. “As long as my secret’s kept, I’ll be fine. You had an asshole for a father, you probably understand what he’d do to me if he found out.”

“I know, I know.” Will nodded solemnly. Then paused, as if gathering his wits. 

“It’s the Wheeler boy, isn’t it?” He blurted out, unable to witness a minute longer of the boy’s struggle. 

He turned beet red in 0.2. It was almost cute. “Yes.” 

“OK.” Billy nodded.  _ Faggots and their diseases _ echoed in his head. “OK. What do you wanna know?” 

“Just… how do you… know?” He was struggling with words, but he was such a brave boy. 

“That you’re a faggot?” Billy asked. 

He winced. “My mom said that’s not a good word to say.”

“It’s not.” He agreed. “But since I’m one, I’m owning that shit.” It was the first time he admitted out loud. To anyone. It was for a good cause, though. “But I don’t know how to help you, kid.”

“Can’t you tell me how you knew?” He asked Billy, looking torn. “For yourself, I mean, not about me.” 

Billy hummed. “I remember, back in Cali, when my mom was still alive, my dad called me a fag. I asked a neighbor what that meant.” His smile was bitter. “The guy was nice, trying to explain it to me. I didn’t even know there was a name to it.” 

“But, I was young, so I thought it might change with time - the guy told me so too, that it was OK if it changed, and OK if it didn’t. But my dad used that word as an insult, so it got a little confusing in my head.” 

“And then… puberty hit, I guess. And instead of looking for girl’s growing tits like most boys, I would rather look at other boys in the showers after practice.” He shrugged. “Had a couple of crushes, hid it here and there, you know the drill.” He looked at Will.

“And how do you know you  _ like _ someone?” He insisted. “Like, a  _ specific _ someone.” 

He eyed the boy. “I think you should ask Harrington that, kid.” 

“He’s only ever been with girls, though. It seems  _ different _ .” Will looked frustrated, and Billy could understand the feeling. 

“Look, there are a couple of things you could look for, practically speaking,” He agreed. “Like thinking about the person all the time, feeling like you’re acting to get their attention whenever they’re around, like you wanna impress them… then there’s like physical stuff, like sweaty hands and fast heartbeat and kinda feeling like you’re falling from a rollercoaster.” 

The boy nodded solemnly. “Yeah… I think… I do all that.” He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. “I’m so screwed. He’s not even gay, you know?” 

“I don’t think he’s straight either, if you ask me, kid.” Billy announced. “I mean, I have no way of knowing that but a gut feeling, but the Wheeler boy… he has some strong bissexual vibes to me.” 

Will looked suddenly hopeful. “Really?”

“Yeah,” He confirmed. “And you seem like great friends. I don’t think he’d hate you, or anything, if he knew. Worst case scenario there, he shoots you down, the friendship gets awkward for a little while, and then you move on.” 

He seemed to think about it. “Do you have a crush on anybody?” 

Billy cocked his head. “Now you’re asking too much of me, Little Byers.”

“No, it’s just-” He bit his lip. “You get this look, sometimes. Like you’re daydreaming about somebody.”

“None of your business, kid.” He saw Max coming from the front door, and what the fuck took her so long? “You going to the arcade too?” 

“If you don’t mind, yeah.” 

“Then buckle up and prepare to get an earful for riding shotgun on the car.” He smirked, and Will smiled back, and it was okay, really. It could be OK. 

Right until Maxine decided to annoy them to death complaining about how  _ unfair _ it was that she had to get  _ extra homework _ and then when she got to the car  _ Will _ was already there sitting on  _ her _ place. 

It was a five minute ride, but it felt like a million fucking ears. 

When they got there, Harrington’s kids were already waiting by the Beamer, which was parked in front of the arcade. Max dropped off, but he didn’t see Will staying behind - he didn’t see it specifically because his eyes were busy somewhere else - looking from him to… where his eyes were. 

“What?” Billy asked once he noticed. Fuck. 

The boy just giggled and left the car. “Thanks for the ride, Billy!” 

He rolled his eyes and breathed hard to himself. “Fucking hell.” And drove off. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________


	4. Part IV

Part IV

“Where’s your assistant, Billy?” Frank asked him the afternoon Steve was missing. 

He rolled his eyes to the old man. “He’s not my assistant. And I don’t know.” Billy answered. 

“No?” Frank crossed his arms over his chest. “So why does he stay here more afternoons than not? I thought you had hired him or something.” Frank was laughing. 

“Because he’s a  _ pest _ and I can’t get rid of him.” Billy answered gruffly. 

“You know, my brother lives in Cleveland.” Frank leaned against Billy’s table casually. “He had a guy like that around him as well.”

“Yeah?” Billy wasn’t really interested, but Frank was a good guy. “What happened?” 

“They got married two years ago.” Frank laughed, and Billy, who had been trying his very best to screw a very stubborn piece into the inhards of the car, had his hand slip with surprise. 

“They… what?” 

“I mean, they can’t get  _ legally _ married,” Frank agreed. “Not yet anyway. But they had been living together a while and made a beautiful ceremony.” He smiled wistfully. “I wish I had the luck to find someone like that for me. A gal, in my case, but,” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter. 

Damn liars. 

“Sure.” Billy kept going on the engine, trying to tune it out. Trying to make his heart stop pounding so much. 

“Let me know when he brings flowers so I can keep a vase full with water waiting.” Frank winked and Billy huffed. 

“You’re insane, Frank.” 

Frank laughed, walking away. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________

“No, that one is ruined.” Billy told Wheeler girl as she passed on what she found to him during lunch. “This has an unfixable leak, no.”

“This one looks nice.” Steve pointed at one from over Billy’s shoulders, but he just shook his head. 

“This one has a bad engine, you wouldn’t imagine how many of those come up to the shop with the same problems.” Billy answered, checking her little notes. “Oh, this one is good.” 

“Is it?” She looked hopeful. 

“Yeah. Get it by the shop, I’ll check it for you to see if everything is fine, but it seems pretty good.”

“Yay!” Wheeler threw her arms up in excitement and then lowered them around Billy in celebration. “I’ll get a car!” 

“Yeah, you will,” Billy patted her arm awkwardly. “Now let go of me before that creep you call a boyfriend decides to join in.” 

Jonathan just laughed beside her, unbothered. 

“I think Steve might be more tempted to.” She teased, and of course. Teasing Steve about him still wanting her. Real low blow there, Wheeler. 

“Yeah, I’ll get out of the way for that.” He rolled his eyes, but she let go anyway. 

“What? No, I want one too,” Jonathan was laughing his head off when he stood up and hugged Billy from behind. 

He grunted. It seemed like the whole cafeteria stopped to look. 

“Fuck you, Byers, if your brother didn’t have weapons for eyes I’d punch you in the face.”

“Yeah, yeah,” He was still chuckling as he slid beside Nancy and kissed her cheek. 

Then they all turned to Steve. Who looked scared now. 

“What?”

“They both got a hug.” Billy shrugged. “Wouldn’t want you to feel left out, pretty boy.” 

Steve bit his lower lip. “Hm. OK?” 

Then he used the opportunity to mock Billy’s height by putting his arms around Billy’s shoulders. 

And Billy decided to fight back by moving and getting Steve into his arms bride-style, with no effort at all. 

Nancy and Jonathan were laughing, and Steve  _ finally _ caved and flushed. 

“You mock me, I mock you right back, pretty boy.” He left Steve back on his seat. 

“Yeah, yeah,” The boy cleared his throat and fixed his shirt, as if it wasn’t already in place. 

Billy was still smirking, feeling victorious, when he sat down to finish his meal. Harrington could be taller but he’d never be the stronger one.

  
  


______________________________________________________________

He hadn’t had an incident with Neil in a couple of weeks. 

And then one of the guys from basketball told his dad about him holding Steve in the cafeteria. And his dad told Billy’s dad. 

Max found him on the living room, three hours after it happened. She called Joyce, who called Hopper, and they both came to peel him off of the floor and into Hopper’s car. 

He pointedly refused to go to the hospital - his dad would make him pay for that  _ in cash _ \- so they took him to the closest empty place. 

Steve’s house. 

“What the-?” Was his reaction when Hopper and Joyce came up his driveway holding a very bloodied Billy. But he kicked into gear pretty fast, Billy thought, with covering the couch so he could lay on it and running for the first aid kid. 

Joyce - who apparently had some nurse training - checked him over, and left to talk to Hopper as Steve fixed up his smaller wounds. Max sat beside him, crying, apparently, for once, at a loss of words. 

“Ouch!” Billy exclaimed without being really willing to, when the antiseptic touched his eyebrow. 

“Sorry-” Steve said, looking nervous but determinate to finish his version of a fix-up of Billy’s face. 

“Don’t worry, pretty boy.” He grunted, trying to move so his coccyx would sit a little up, a little more comfortable after falling so hard on it. “Had worse.”

“That’s not comforting you asshole!” Max finally screamed, but refrained from hitting him at the very last moment. 

“Max, loud.” He mumbled, her voice hitting him like a ton of bricks to the head. 

She winced. “Sorry.” And crossed her arms over her chest. “Asshole.” 

Billy chuckled. It hurt. 

“Was there a specific reason for this?” Steve asked him as he finished. 

“No.”

“Yes!” Maxine exclaimed beside him, indignant. “I heard him talking on the phone! He said something about you picking up some boy at the cafeteria?” 

“It was a joke and he interpreted it as he saw fit.” Billy corrected her, eyes shut. “Now just let me sleep-”

“No, you can’t.” Joyce Byers interrupted him rather rudely. He could forgive her if she just let him sleep. “You may have a concussion. You have to stay awake for a few hours yet.” 

“But I’m so  _ tired- _ ” He knew he sounded like a whiny bitch and couldn’t bring himself to care. 

“No!” She jolts him awake again. “If you fall asleep, we won’t know if something’s wrong with you. No, you need to stay awake for a while, at least until your pupils aren’t dilated anymore.” Joyce explained, a little softer. 

Billy just huffed, but tried to keep his eyes half-open at that. “Max,” He called her name after a few minutes. “You gotta go home.”

“I’m not going home after this! I can’t go to the same house as someone who does  _ this _ !” She sounded a little hysterical, which. Fair, he thought. 

“You’re not his daughter and he’s not risking losing Susan, at least not now that their marriage is still good.” He hoped she could understand his jumbled words. “He’ll be out to kill somebody if you’re not home before curfew. You gotta go.” In an afterthought, he added. “I’ll be fine.” 

She looks from Joyce, to Hopper, and then to Steve. “Take care of him.” She stood up, looking so defeated and scared. Billy wished she didn’t like him, still, so this would be easier. She could just not care. 

It was early, so she was skating home. Billy fell asleep for just a little, he thought, until Steve woke him up again. He was in a different room, but didn’t really care. He felt warm, and safe. He could still hear Hopper’s voice on the outside, talking on the phone. 

“Joyce said I have to check you out every hour.” Steve told him, voice soft. “I gotta check your pupils and if you can move OK.” 

Billy nodded and let Steve check him for other bad symptoms. It was OK though, and, happily enough, he was allowed back to sleep. 

He spent the night like that, being woken up at every two hours by Steve, who, at this point, seemed to be already sleeping in the same bed as Billy. 

He didn’t care. 

Something good was coming from the whole ordeal, after all. 

______________________________________________________________

He woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon, but that’s now what was taken for him at the bedroom he was staying. 

“C’me on, man. You’re all eating the good stuff outside and I’m here stuck with chicken soup.” He complained, even though it smelled pretty good. 

“Joyce told me you need to start over light. It’s been a while since you ate.” He explained. 

“Gonna spoon feed me too, pretty boy?” He teased. 

“If it hurts you, yeah.” He sat by Billy’s knees on the bed, helping him prop himself up. 

Billy just rolled his eyes and sighed, starting to eat slowly. With all the hours without eating, it tasted like the best goddamned thing he could ever eat. 

“Okay. This was good. Thank Mrs. Byers for me.”

Steve snorted. “This was a Harrington creation, Hargrove. Joyce Byers can’t cook for shit.” 

“Fuck, that real?” He eyed the bowl of soup completely differently. “Fuck, that’s amazing.” 

“Yeah?” Steve looked amused. 

“Yeah.” He was still stunned. “What did you put in here, was that rosemary?”

“Yeah.” The other boy was still smiling. “How did you know?” 

“I swap Susan’s food with mine sometimes, so it seems she doesn’t get it right all the time.” He rolled his eyes. “Not to mention one gets tired of eating burned pancakes.”

Harrington laughed. “Yeah… I’m always alone so I had to learn how to fend for myself.” He shrugged. “Glad you liked it, man.”

“Hey,” He called before Steve left. “What are they talking about? Out there?” 

“Hopper and Joyce?” He asked. Billy nodded. “I’m not sure. They’re calling social workers, friends, other police chiefs.” He shrugged. “Nothing I understand much, but they slept for like forty five minutes scattered through the whole night.” 

Billy rubbed his forehead. “No, man. They don’t need to do that shit.”

“They want to.” Steve shrugged. “They got attached to you, their kids got attached to you.” 

“Did  _ you _ get attached to me, pretty boy?” It got out of his mouth before he could think about it. 

“I made you chicken soup, what do you think?” Steve arched one eyebrow. 

“That you’re too much of a goody-two-shoes?” He pondered. 

Steve just rolled his eyes before he left. 

____________________________________________________________________________

“Billy, you  _ have to _ -”

“I don’t have to nothing.” He crossed his arms over his chest. He knew it was childish, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

“Dude! What the hell?” Henderson was there. They were  _ all _ there, the little fuckers. Fuck him, and fuck Steve’s big mouth. Or Maxine’s, he didn’t know. 

“Look, I’m gonna be eighteen in a few months and then I’m out of the house for good. I’ll get a full-time job at Frank’s and rent a place for myself until I can get enough money to go back to the West Coast.” 

“In a few months he can kill you, Billy,” The worst is that it was coming from Joyce’s soft voice, her hand on his arm. “Especially because he knows that you’ll be gone, and he will have no one else to take his anger out on.” 

“It could be me.” Max pointed out. “Or my mom.”

“You move in with me and Susan can go grow a pair, I’m sorry Max.” He shook his head, resolute. “It’s too much work for nothing.”

“Billy, you came in here concussed, and with bruised ribs. If I hadn’t found you, you could have-” Maxine’s eyes were brimming with tears, and that was  _ not _ something she would normally do. Especially in front of her friends. “You could have died, and I would have found your body, and  _ none of this is OK _ .” 

“It’s like you  _ wanna _ die.” Wheeler protested, always angry instead of sad. Kinda like Billy. He  _ loathed _ the boy. 

“I’m not gonna die, Jesus. I didn’t even need an hospital or anything, I was fine just laying down.” 

“Yeah, but Steve was up all night waking you up every hour to see if there was no brain damage.” Henderson insisted. “You’re being crazy right now.”

“Look, this is none of your business, alright?” He stood up, angry as fuck. Noisy fuckers. 

“If  _ this _ is what makes you a great candidate to be possessed by the Mind Flayer, it is!” Wheeler screamed at him, and Billy honestly couldn’t take it anymore. They had been at it for  _ hours _ . 

“Fuck this, I’m not arguing with you anymore.” He growled and stomped back to what he got to consider  _ his _ room, a couple of days after his dad beat the shit out of him. 

Steve was already there, laying on what had been his side of the bed on that first day, when he needed to wake Billy up every hour. He was staring at the ceiling, and Billy was too angry to ask. He just plopped himself down beside the other boy, also glaring at the striped wallpaper on the ceiling. 

“I get it, you know.” Steve said. Billy waited for him to continue. “I mean, I obviously don’t get getting beat up by your father like this. But I get that you gave up on fighting this.” He sighed. “It just hurts less.” 

“Is that about your folks never being home?” Billy asked. It didn’t even really seem like they  _ lived _ at that house, honestly. 

“Partly, yes.” The boy nodded. “At some point it just… gets too much. And then it gets numb.” He turned his head to face Billy. “But honestly… this numbness starts spreading out to other parts of life and suddenly it’s like… what’s the point of living?”

“Whoa,” He frowned. “That got real dark real fast, pretty boy,”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Don’t act like you don’t understand it.” 

Billy paused. “Yeah.” He agreed. “It… after a while it doesn’t seem like it matters, you know? If I live or die.” He avoided Steve’s eyes. “Seems like it won’t get better than this. And if it doesn’t, I don’t see the point.” 

Steve nodded. “Yeah… I felt like that. Kinda still feel, sometimes.”

“What changed?” Billy asked, now looking, really looking, at the boy beside him. 

Steve opened a smile. “You’re gonna laugh.”

“Promise I won’t.” Was Billy’s answer. 

“It was… Dustin, actually.”

“What, that mouth-breather?” He mocked, but there was no heat to it. “What did he do?”

“He just… he likes me. And he kept coming here no matter how rude I was to him, or if I ignored him, or anything. He said I’m like a brother to me and family doesn’t leave each other behind at hard times.” He chuckled. “He’s one stubborn motherfucker.” 

“Kinda like Max,” Billy agreed. 

“Yeah.” Steve was still smiling. It suited him better. “He just stayed with me. Gave me time, food, patience. Despite his age, he knew what to do, partially because of his mom,” Steve explained. “And just,  _ not being alone _ made all the difference. It wasn’t quick, but it got surely better. And while he held space for my shit, he really did, I was kinda upset with myself too, for disappointing him, somehow. At first it just made me more tired, but then it also kinda helped. Not sure it’s all that healthy, but it got me moving, so it was good.” He was grinning. 

Billy eyed the ceiling resolutely. “Having all those people around… it’s still new to me. I’m always alone, even when I’m with Max, we’re just doing our own things and not paying attention to each other.” 

Steve nodded. “Yeah, but those things… they’re kinda like. If you have two jars, one is bad stuff, one is good stuff,” He moved his hands while he talked, it was very distracting. “And life, and you, keep putting marbles on the bad stuff jar. It doesn’t mean you should give up on putting marbles on the good stuff jar, because if you really put an effort to it, to getting rid of the thing pushing more and more marbles into the bad, and focusing on filling up the good jar, then they’ll even out. And there will be a will to live there, I can promise you that.” 

Billy sighed. “I get it.” He agreed. “I just… it seems like so much work.” He looked at Steve. “I feel real tired, pretty boy. Real tired.” 

Steve nodded. “I know. But you have people willing to do that stuff for you now. You just gotta let them.” He grinned. "Even Nancy and Jonathan like you."

Billy laughed. "They want me in a threesome, I'm sure." He joked. 

"Yeah, that's not happening." Steve went back to ceiling-watching. 

"Hey, why not?" Billy pretended to be indignant. "I'm hot enough to be invited for a threesome."

_ They're not getting a piece of your ass before I do.  _

Uh. 

That was new. 

"Steve, this is gonna sound insane, but roll with it, okay?" He asked and sat up slowly. It still hurt. "Girl, it's Ten, right?"

Something startled in his brain.  _ I don't know what you're talking about.  _

"I don't know how to talk to you without actually _ talking _ , so hear me out." He said to the ceiling, which felt weird but he  _ knew _ was right. "You gotta  _ get out of my head _ , girl. It ain't a place for a little girl to be."

_ I've seen worse.  _

Fuck. Even her tone was petulant. 

"What's happening?" Steve was up too, looking mildly alarmed. "Is she talking to you?"

"Kinda, yeah," Billy answered him and sighed. "Doesn't matter if you've seen worse. I have been picking up these thoughts you want me to believe that are mine, and that's not OK. If you have something to tell me, just do it, alright?"

"Fuck, this is  _ so creepy _ ," Steve breathed beside him. "Want me to get Eleven?"

"No. Not like she ain't an even worse snoop." A giggle blinked in his head. "Yeah, go laughing, you little punk."

_ I just told you what  _ he _ was thinking.  _

"Girl, I can't know that. You have this script to what I'm supposed to do with my life and you keep throwing me those curve balls. I don't even know if I want any of what it seems  _ you _ want for me."

_ I don't lie. _

"Everybody lies."

_ I don't. He likes you.  _

"You have any idea what happens to people who like that stuff?" He asked her, feeling his heart pound. She was obviously lying, but it was a  _ Very Nice Thought™. _

_ I'll stop it.  _

"You can't live your life just looking out for me!" He growled. "Outta my head, kid."

_ Fine.  _ He could  _ feel _ her pouting.  _ I'm going to talk to El. _

"Hey, kid, wait," He still felt her presence, so he kept talking. "I remember that El needed help before. Do you… need help too? Escaping somewhere, or somethin'?"

Her edges softened in his mind.  _ No. But thank you for offering, Billy. _

"No problem, kid." He laid back down. "Anything you need, you know where to find us."

He could feel her presence leaving, even though the connection was clearly not over. It was like a thread linking his mind to her. Considering that she had reset time to fix things, and brought him back to life, it was probably a small price to pay. 

"Oh my God." Steve laid down with a thump. "These kids are  _ so _ creepy."

Billy chuckled. 

_______________________________________

He had been staying with Joyce for the weekend since Steve’s parents were in town, for a change. He did his best to help around, fixing whatever he could find that was broken, doing washing and drying, buying groceries, and generally anything he could. Joyce gave up on telling him that  _ you don’t have to do that, Billy _ , and just accepted the extra help. Jonathan, while hard-working and helpful, wasn’t around much, always working on his fixed job and working odd jobs on the weekends. Not to mention he wasn’t that good with his hands, so. Since Frank was making him do just those small jobs to keep him from getting worse again, he had energy to spare. 

The weather was nice, so Billy decided to hang the clothes outside. Once that was done, he saw Will laying on the grass by himself, watching the clouds. 

He laid beside him. “That one looks like a turtle.” He told the boy, who smiled. 

“Yes, it does.” Will agreed, but his voice was small. Billy hated it. 

They spent about ten minutes like that, in silence, just listening to the sheets and the leaves rustle in the wind. 

“Do you feel like you’re broken?” Will asked him out of nothing. “I mean. Like there’s something wrong with you?” 

“Because I’m gay?” He asked the boy, who nodded. Billy sighed. “All the time, kid. Objectively, I don’t think there is - I mean, the whole greek society was basically one gay mess, not to mention the romans. And they were great civilizations, so I don’t think it can be all bad, at least, - but the feeling is still there.” 

Will nodded again. “I feel it too.” He turned his head to Billy. “Thank you for talking to me about this. I know it’s dangerous, mom explained that. It’s just that… I mean, Jonathan’s a great brother, but… he doesn’t  _ get _ it.” His face said it all. “You know?”

“It’s alright, kid. I’m sorry I don’t know more about any of this.” He sighed. “I picked up a few things here and there, but I don’t know if they’re right or not. And I don’t think I accept myself completely, too.’ He shrugged. “I’m not a good role model.” 

“You’re trying your best under bad circumstances.” Will put his hand over Billy’s, kinda like his mom did. “It’s all I could ask of a role model, I think.” 

He felt his heart jump and melt for the kid. 

Billy squeezed his hand back, and they stayed thee, watching the clouds pass by and trying to guess the most ridiculous shapes to them. 

________________________________________________________________

“Anything happens, you call us, OK, honey?” Joyce put his hair behind his ear when she dropped him off. 

He smiled at her, pretending he could. Pretending he would. 

He got out of the car. His front door looked bigger than it was, than it could ever be. 

He got in.

___________________________________________________________________

He didn’t call. 

___________________________________________________________________

Billy wasn’t really talking to anybody except for the bare polite essentials, Neil wasn’t talking to him, Susan was trying to pretend that everything was OK and Max was vocally angry at her mother. 

It was a mess. 

“Maxine, would you please pass me the mash potatoes?” Susan asked her daughter sweetly. 

Max ignored her. 

“Maxine?” 

“I don’t talk to people without decency,  _ Susan _ .” She bitched, and Billy saw Neil’s jaw working. 

“Max, please,” Billy ventured into the conversation, trying to dial it down. “She’s your mom. You gotta treat her right.”

“ _ Mothers _ don’t pretend that  _ children _ inside their  _ own homes _ aren’t being beaten up almost to  _ death _ .” Maxine replied, and Susan inhaled sharply. 

“Max-” Billy tried again. “That’s none of your busi-”

“You take that back, young lady.” Neil demanded, his face a mask of fury. Behind it, though, Billy thought he saw some amusement. Delight in having a motive to lay his anger down. 

“Neil-” Susan touched his forearm, trying to appease him, but Maxine stayed stubbornly silent. 

Neil punched the table and stood up. “You take that back right now!”

“Neil!” Susan looked terrified now. 

Max’s lower lip trembled, but she tilted her chin up, defiant. Stupid, brave girl. 

“Take it back!” Neil screamed, and raised his hand. 

Time stopped. 

Billy was up and holding Neil’s wrist before it could hit Maxine’s face. He didn’t even hear scream. 

“What-?”

“You lay a single  _ finger _ on her, and you’re dead.” Billy hissed. And he wasn’t joking, too. 

“What the fuck do you think-?” 

“I have seen you bash my mother’s head open with a phone,” He saw Neil’s eyes widen. He tried to slip his wrist from Billy’s hold with no success. “And I have been waiting for you to love me for  _ seventeen _ years. This is where I draw the line.” He was hissing, his tone was grave. 

Neil’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “How  _ dare _ you? This is  _ my _ house, I do whatever the fuck-”

“You think people are stupid?” Billy cocked his head, amused at his dad’s stupidity for once. “Maxine is best friends with the Chief of Police’s  _ daughter _ . He was the one who patched me up last time.” Neil was about to open his mouth again, but Billy interrupted him. “I didn’t say anything, but I didn’t have to. It doesn’t take much to sum up two and two. And if you  _ think _ ,” Billy twisted his dad’s arm, and he knew he was going to pay for that, but fuck it. Just  _ fuck it _ . “That I would stop before you were  _ dead _ , you are sorely mistaken. And trust me, the Chief would help me hide your body.” 

He let go of Neil’s arm. The man was  _ fuming _ , and he would probably find a way to kill Billy sooner or later, now that he presented himself as a threat to his control. 

As long as he didn’t lay a finger on Maxine. 

Neil straightened his shirt, appraising him with a smile that was way too full of teeth. 

“Look who finally grew a spine.” He sat back down, slowly. It seem like time was a suspended flake of snow, waiting to fall. 

“You keep our business between us.” Billy said to his plate of food. “Wanna discipline Maxine, send her to her room.” 

Neil clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. “Good suggestion.” He looked at Max, who slipped out of her chair  _ only _ when Billy nodded.

Neil didn’t miss that. 

“So,” Neil’s hand were over Billy’s shoulder at the pretense of camaraderie, but it was clearly too hard to be friendly. “I guess you’re a man, now.” He was smiling, fuck. “So we can talk like men, huh?”

Susan was shaking. Billy said nothing. 

_______________________________________________________________________


	5. Part V

Part V

“I’m going to _kill_ him,” Was the first thing Steve said when he saw Billy at school. 

“Not worth it, pretty boy,” Billy shut the door of his Camaro and headed inside with a very angry Max. “Any news on the Upside Down stuff? Anything we can do?” 

Steve’s jaw was working hard. “No. Neither Will nor El can pick anything up right now. Me and Hopper have checked the woods but there’s nothing there, either.” He shrugged. “We’re looking, but we have no lead.” 

Billy nodded, just walking to class. “It’s good that we know there’s something to look for.” He shrugged. 

“Yeah,” Steve agreed, but it was bitter. “But if we can’t do anything about a _regular_ monster like your father, then I’m not sure what we can do about the Mind Flayer.” 

“Pretty boy, chill-”

“Don’t _pretty boy_ me, Billy.” He stopped walking, and Billy stopped too. “I’m pissed off. He’s not going to stop until he kills you, and it doesn’t seem like you care.”

“What, gonna miss me, pretty boy?” He tried to deflect with a joke.

Steve deflated. “Yeah, I am. You asshole.” 

Billy didn’t have the time to answer, because Steve was already entering his classroom. 

And he was left behind with a _me too_ stuck between his lips. 

____________________________________________________________________________

He woke up to Eleven cuddling him. In his house. In the middle of the fucking night. 

He left bed and stood up, going for the phone very silently. The number had been given to him, at least. 

A worried voice came from the other side of the line. “El?” 

“No, Chief, it’s Billy.” 

“Billy, sorry son, if you need help I can send someone your way, I just-”

“Hey, everything’s fine.” He said. “El is here.”

“She… she is?”

“Yeah.” Billy sighed. “Woke up to her sleeping with me. I don’t know how long she’s been there, or how she got in.”

The relieved sigh that came from the other side of the line did _things_ to Billy. That the Chief trusted him with his daughter, in his bed. He was no creep, but nobody else knew that, he thought. 

That trust made him feel warm. 

“It’s alright, kid, she does that. I asked her to leave a not-oh, there it is.” Hopper sounded worried and gruff. “She left me a note, like I asked her to do before she left the house. She even drew you.” Billy heard paper rustling. “I’ll come pick her up.” 

“Neil will hear you coming.” Billy bit his lower lip. 

“I’ll make something up, don’t worry.” 

Who was Billy to stay between the Chief and his daughter, after all. “Alright. I’ll stay with her.”

“Thanks, Hargrove.” Hopper answered. “Really. She really likes you.” 

“I like her too.” He said honestly. “She’s a good kid.” 

“Yeah, she doesn’t know that, sometimes.” He sounded tired again. “Kinda like you.”

________________________________________________________________________________

When Hopper came, Billy directed him to his bedroom. While the Chief came out of Billy’s room with the kid, Neil came out of his, looking immediately mad at the sight. 

“What is the meaning of this?” He hissed. 

“This isn’t the best moment, but I’m Chief Hopper.” Jim said, El still asleep in his arms. “And this is my daughter.” 

“Why was your daughter in _my house_?” He demanded again, getting angrier and angrier. 

“She’s adopted, and has a little quirks.” Hopper was clearly trying to be brief. “She’s taken a like of your son and ran away from home. Billy called me as soon as he noticed she was there, and I’ll be forever thankful for that.” He turned to Billy. “I owe you, kid.” 

“No problem.” Billy shrugged. 

Hopper turned and left the house to bring El to his truck. 

His dad only waited for the door to shut. 

“A little girl, Billy? Really?” Neil hit his temple with a closed fist, making him tumble over. 

“Dad, I would never-” A kick to his ribs made him double over. 

“I mean, I always _knew_ there was something wrong with you, but you’re not _only_ a fagot, you’re also a _kiddie_ _pervert_.” A kick to his head, Neil didn’t seem to care anymore, not since he stood up for Max. “Do I gotta keep you away from your sister too? That girl looked about her age, you _freak_ ,” 

“Yeah, no, you’re not doing that,” Hopper’s voice came from the front door. 

Neil looked like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment. “This is none of your concern, officer. This is between a father and his son-”

“The fuck it is. I’ve waited for too long to get this kid out of your hands, but enough is enough.” 

Susan and Max were coming out of their rooms, looking confused - right until they saw Billy on the floor, bloodied, and Hopper by the front door. 

“Oh my God!” 

Hopper was beside Billy in a moment, helping him up. Max ran to his side, but Neil held her, _strong_ , by her arm. 

“Do _not_ help this freak, Maxine.”

“You’re hurting me!” She had tears in her eyes and, in that second, Billy was God. He was God, because the punch he loaded on Neil’s face was _epic_ , and it made him fall over and hit his back on the wall. 

“I told you,” He stood, looming over his fallen father, who finally looked _afraid_. Afraid, because no one came to help him. “She is where I draw the line.”

“She is _my daughter_ , I can do whatever the fuck I-” Billy kicked him in the gut. Once, twice, three times. 

Hopper wasn’t stopping him, Susan wasn’t stopping him. Max just watched. 

“Actually,” Susan finally kicked into action, wiping her eyes. Looking at the blooming mark on Maxine’s arm. “Actually, she is not your daughter. You never adopted her, and you never will.” Her voice trembled. “Maxine, go pack a back. We’re leaving.”

“You’re my wife! You can’t leave, you whore-” Neil started to scream, but Billy took pleasure in punching his teeth in. His knuckles were bloodied, and it felt _good_. 

“ _Respect and responsibility_ , dad.” Neil was groaning, and wouldn’t meet Billy’s eyes. “You don’t practice what you preach. So you’re going to stay down while they pack their bags, and then everybody is leaving. And if I _hear_ that you threatened them, or touched them, or hit them-” He put his hand over Neil’s throat. Like he did so many times before. 

Billy knew just how much to hold on. He knew just how much to squeeze. How much terror he would cause Neil, choking him, reminding him that he was just a human body. Just like everyone else. Breakable. 

“If I hear you did anything to them, I won’t be making a threat. I will be finishing this for once and for all.” Billy said. “Am I being clear?” He let go of his hold. Neil coughed, took a few shallow breaths. “Am I being _clear?_ ”

“You sick son of a-” 

Billy backhanded him before he could finish that thought. “Not the right answer, _sir._ ” He backhanded him again. “ _Am. I. Being. Fucking. Clear?_ ” He held Neil’s face by the chin with one hand. 

In the end, he broke, offered Billy a curt nod. 

That was when Billy stood back up, adrenalin still the only thing keeping him up. 

Hopper stood guard while he, too, went inside his bedroom and made himself a bag. He had no fucking idea where he was going to stay, or for how long, but it didn’t matter. 

He was out. Susan was out, Max was out. And Neil was exactly where he belonged. Broken and on the floor. 

_I told you_. 

Billy rolled his eyes. 

_Go to Steve’s. Take Susan and Max to Joyce’s. Jonathan’s out._

With the bag in hand, he left the house, ignoring Neil as he did. For the first time, he had a feeling that he would never be crossing that particular door again. 

Susan and Max were already inside the Chief’s truck, El now awake - it seemed like she had been awake for a while. 

“You hit him.” She said, with her creepy serious tone, like always. Susan looked scared, Max was used to it. Billy just shrugged. 

“Yeah. I hit him.”

She waited a beat. “You should have killed him. Like I killed Papa.” 

If Susan wasn’t horrified before, she was now. 

“Maybe.” He agreed. “But I’m already more like him than I like.” 

“You’re nothing like him, Billy,” It was Susan who held his arm. “Yes, you can be violent, but it’s always for the right reasons.” Her lower lip wobbled. “I’m so sorry I didn’t do anything.” 

He didn’t know he would ever be able to forgive her, but. They were fine, for now. “It’s OK. We’ll talk later.” 

“Just remember that you gotta be a role model for me.” Maxine crossed her arms over her chest, one of them blooming the mark of Neil’s fingers. “You really want me to be afraid of my husband, mom?” 

Susan started crying again. “Never, baby. I’m so sorry.” She held onto Max, who accepted the hug, even though she didn’t respond to it. 

Hopper finally came back from the house, he looked angry, but a little more settled than before. 

“What were you doing there, Chief?” Billy asked, half-amused with how gruff Hopper looked. 

“I was there making sure he ain’t coming after you again, kid.” 

“Yeah?” Billy was grinning through the blood. “How did you do that?” 

Hopper turned to him with a raised brow. “Showing him I’m the local monster expert, of course.” 

Billy, Max and El laughed. Susan stayed confused. 

It didn’t matter. 

________________________________________________________________________

When he got to Harrington’, the boy didn’t even look surprised. 

“He’s OK this time, Harrington.” Hopper told him. “If you can, please let him crash here a couple of days before I can find a place for him to stay.”

“Place to stay?” Steve was frowning now. “Does that mean…?”

“I’m out, pretty boy.” Billy was smiling, despite of his pain. “Definitely out.”

“Fuck yes, finally!” Steve hugged him and Billy laughed. 

“If you need anything, call!” Hopper turned and left them alone. 

“Come on in, man, you know the drill.” He opened his arms to gesture his whole house. “You can stay in the same bedroom as before.” 

“Thanks, dude.” He smiled, left his bag by the couch and followed Steve to the kitchen. 

“Want some soda?” He offered, and Billy shook his head. 

“I’m actually hungry. You mind if I cook?”

“You cook?” Steve asked with an arched eyebrow. 

“Told ya already, pretty boy.” Billy started to look around the kitchen for stuff to make pancakes, because hell yeah he needed pancakes. Blueberry and chocolate chip, thank you very much. “I can do anything.” 

“Yeah.” Steve was smiling, sitting on the counter. “Apparently you can.” 

Billy just smiled back and made pancakes, that they ate with decaf on the couch. 

“So,” Steve looked like a dream on that couch, all soft and cozy and touchable with his sleeping clothes. “Wanna talk about what happened?” 

Billy shrugged. “I warned him to stay away from Max.” He let go of his empty mug and dish on the center table, and Harrington did the same after the last sip. “He didn’t listen.” 

“Oh my God, is she OK?” 

“She’s fine. I didn’t let him touch her.” He was caressing the head of Harrington’s grey cat. The animal seemed delighted. 

“What did you do?” Steve looked curious. 

“I punched him in the face. Then kitched him a few times. Then slapped him a couple more.” He wasn’t looking at Harrington. The boy would probably think him a barbarian or something. “Chief was there, Susan and Max watched the whole thing.”

Steve whistled. “You really put him in his place, then.” 

Billy chuckled. “He thought he was so tough because I let him beat me. I did it because… in a way I wanted him to love me. I also depended on him for food and stuff. But now…” He licked his lips. “Now I guess I have more support. And a part time job. And Susan left him too, which means Max is safe. So.” He sighed. “Little brat didn’t even do a thing he asked from her unless I told her to. He was _ballistic_ about that.” 

“That only tells me leadership comes from respect, not from fear.” Harrington concluded, making Billy bite his lip. He hoped he wasn’t blushing. 

“Maybe.” He agreed, licking his lips. “Or she’s just stupid.”

“Stop saying that,” Harrington’s hand was on Billy’s knee and he quite literally stopped breathing. “You may have fucked up in another timeline, but you haven’t here. Here, you are a good brother who stood up for her more than once against your own abusive father. That’s not a small thing. In fact…” He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “It’s actually kinda hot.”

Billy frowned then. “What?” 

“Yeah.” Harrington continued. “I mean, I know you beat him up, and it’s probably at least a little fucked up that I find that even hotter, but,” He shrugged. “I’ve seen stranger things than me having a protective kink. So.” 

“You…” Billy’s frown deepened. “But you were with Wheeler.”

“And now she’s happily with Jonathan. And I’m happy for them, honestly.” His hand slid a bit up on Billy’s knees. “But I’ve been giving you hints this whole time and it doesn’t seem like you get them. So here I am,” Higher and higher, almost touching Billy’s crotch. “Being very straightforward about it. I find you hot, and I want you, Hargrove.”

Billy sucked up a breath. “I thought you were just teasing me, back then. That you picked up that I’m gay and decided to joke around a bit, in a friendly way.” 

“I’m not aiming for friendly, Billy.” Steve’s hand, his slim, warm fingers, finally cupped Billy’s crotch, and fucking hell. Just. Fucking hell. 

“I can’t believe you’re touching my junk before we kiss, pretty boy,” He laughed, cupping Steve’s face with his hands and meeting him halfway. 

“To be honest, Nance suggested that a couple of months ago.” He licked his own lips as he looked at Billy’s. “I should have listened to her.” 

Billy kissed Harrington. Slowly, warm; they had no rush, nowhere to be. He wanted to feel everything, to have everything from Steve, and he was ready. 

And making out with Steve was rather… magic. The way his lips moved against his, warm and soft, the way his hands cupped Billy’s nape and pulled him closer, the way his shit was probably one of the softest things Billy ever had on his hands - right to the moment when he slipped them inside the fabric and touched Steve’s skin directly. 

His mouth was mapping the boy’s neck when Steve stopped him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Harrington was smiling goofily. “We should just move this to the bedroom. Not that we need to do anything,” He was blushing. “It’s just that… It’s more comfortable.” 

Billy smiled, caressing his hair. “You wanted into my pants so bad, pretty boy, all you had to do was ask.” 

Steve chuckled and pulled him from the couch, guiding him to his bedroom, a place, despite his nights there, Billy had never been to before. 

And he still saw very little of it, because Steve was quickly pushing him into his bed and straddling him, making him laugh. 

“Eager there, Harrington?” He teased, hands on his ass squeezing. 

“You made me wait _months_ , Hargrove. You can’t blame me.” Steve ground his hips against Billy’s, who hissed. 

“Fuck, pretty boy,” He helped Steve out of his shirt, fingers splayed over his chest, trying to touch as much as Steve as he could. 

They kiss and kiss and kiss, and the world starts spinning and looping around Steve, all Steve; Billy a moon drawing circles around the other boy, who was as warm and bright and _essential_ as the sun. 

Steve stood up to get out of his pants and pulled Billy’s off with one smart pull, and _fuck_ that was hot. 

“Later, I’ll have you fuck me,” He said, rocking his hips against Billy’s, their erections aligned, the slide eased by their own precum mixed onto their skin. It was filthy, it was hot, it was intimate: it was everything Billy fucking needed. “Now, I won’t be able to go through any type of prepping without shooting off, so-”

“Just like this, baby boy,” Billy agreed, voice husky, he didn’t even notice, he just put his hands on Steve’s hips and encouraged him into a rhythm, into _movement_ , something, anything to quench the thirst rising high on Billy’s head and body 

Steve bit his lower lip, smiled, and fuck, okay, he was aiming for a show, he was aiming to get Billy coming his balls dry just by _looking_ at that motherfucker’s perfect smile, his full lips, his coquettish eyes, as he rose over Billy’s body like Hermes flying to deliver his prayers to the gods; like Raphael ready to cure every wound of his body, of his soul, with a single touch. 

Steve started to undulate his hips, back and forth, pressing their aligned erections together, and Billy couldn’t breathe but he didn’t miss it; his eyes burned with the need to blink but he _refused_ to lose a single moment of Steve like this, beautiful and uninhibited over him, taking pleasure from his body, a body that Billy once feared would only ever be able to cause another’s pain. But if something as beautiful as Steve could bloom under his touch, then all hope was not lost. Not yet, anyway. 

He rocked back, trying to bring to Steve all that he deserved, hand-deliver whatever he needed because if Steve was a pagan god then Billy was the servant kneeling by the altar. He licked Steve’s sternum, kissed his chest; Steve’s hands came upon his head a blessing, and he never stopped moving, he _never stopped moving_ even when Billy squeezed that delicious ass and bit the tendon by Steve’s neck, claiming that part of heaven in his name. 

Steve gasped, his hips moved faster, and none of them had any chance. They came almost in tandem, Billy bowing his head on Steve’s chest, and Steve opening his chest, his arms like wings around him as his body sinned and came back to earth holier than ever. 

He smiled at Billy, cupped his face with his hands, kissed his lips. Billy felt like something had been sealed, there; that he had somehow signed his heart away forever for that boy, who vowed in return to take good care of it. 

They laid down beside each other, having used Billy’s discarded shirt as a cleanup rag, and Steve had no qualms over cuddling up to Billy’s chest, trusting him with the safety of his body, trusting him to be a safe spot to lay his head on. And Billy felt the Saint Christopher’s medal burning on his chest, swallowing hard. He’d lay his life for that boy without a second thought. But that wasn’t what surprised him, no; he had always been a bit of a martyr. 

What surprised him, however, was that he did sign away his heart, and he felt okay with it. He felt okay because he _trusted_ Steve with it. 

He fell asleep with that thought ringing like a cathedral’s bells inside his skull, strong, undeniable, and out of this world. 

_________________________________________________________________________

Summer came. Billy got another part time job at Hawkin’s pools, Steve got his ass up to Scoop’s Ahoy. Everyone was a little wary, Billy could tell as Hopper’s eyes followed him in the cabin, where he had moved to as soon as the Harrington’s announced that they were coming back for a few days. 

But Eleven was there, and Will and Mike _finally_ fucking figured it out with El in the mix, to Hopper’s despair, Joyce and Hopper were still dancing around it, Jonathan and Nancy finally moved together, Ten still refused to tell them where she was, but assured him that she was OK, and he was _happy_. He had a lot of anger to work on, sure, and his father was still living in the same town as him, and his mother was still dead, and he didn’t get to see the ocean every day like he felt he should, but it was fine. He was good. 

So when he found himself alone in the road, listening to his music while coming home to Steve, and something hit his windshield, he knew something was coming. 

The car screeched as it went sideways on the road and Billy did his best not to die in the crash. 

“Oh no,” He told himself, one of his lenses falling from his eye with the impact and the dryness of his eyes. He didn’t wear them with Steve anymore, but he was still thankful for Sinclair for ordering them for him. 

But there was no use in fighting his broken car. He stumbled out of it, wondering what would be his luck this time. 

He took the other contact and flicked it away from his face. If he was facing the Mind Flayer, he was showing the fucker that he had been through this before. 

This time, nothing carried him downstairs. He went willingly, anger simmering just beneath the surface. He didn’t try to run or to hide when the air shifted and the group of people, already taken by the monster, came in his direction. 

“What do you want?” He asked. 

_You’re not alone_. 

**_I know, kid._ **

“Hey, I said what do you want?” 

The people just walked in his direction. He was no viable host anymore, though; while he still had anger, he also had too much love inside of him. And he likes it cold. 

“I said: what do you want?” He repeated, feeling _something_ itching under his skin, an energy, a power; he wasn’t sure of why, but he knew where it came from, and how to use it. 

_On three, Billy , _it was Eleven on his brain as well, and it was a little crowded, but OK. 

_One_ -

His footsteps echoed in the emptiness of the Upside Down. 

The other him walked forward, confidently as him, but lacking something, now. And Billy was not afraid of seeing the devil in the mirror anymore. 

_Two-_

Billy smiled. 

“Three.” 

________________________________________________________________________________

  
  



End file.
